No Such Thing as Destiny
by QueenPersephoneofHades
Summary: Destiny never really held much meaning to Natsu, especially if it meant he lost a friend because of it. But how exactly is he supposed to avoid the future when it's literally happening right in front of him? Screw destiny! To protect his friends, he and the rest of Fairy Tail will go to any lengths to change the bad and bring about a happy ending. Characters-watching-the-anime fic.
1. Prologue 1: Tome of Prophecy Found!

**DISCLAIMER: Fairy Tail is not owned by me! It is the rightful property of Hiro Mashima! I am simply borrowing it for my own twisted amusement! Please do not sue me!**

**Rated for language and possible adult humor. Seriously, if you're not at least fifteen you shouldn't be watching Fairy Tail in the first place, considering the extreme fanservice it likes to dish out.**

**A/N: Well…. I have no excuse for this. I really should be working on 'Eternal Legends', but I got writer's block of the first degree for it. Then I started watching anime on summer break and really got into the FT fandom… and the rest, as they say, is history.  
I'm also completely aware that this kind of story has been used by almost _every _author on this site for every fandom possible. I don't care if it's a ****cliche,** and I don't care that there are a million stories like this. I decided to do this because, while looking for this type of story in the FT section, I couldn't find any. Perhaps I just searched in the wrong places, or maybe I didn't look hard enough, but I finally got fed up and wanted to write one of my own, so... here you go.  
This is inspired by one of my favorite stories on this site, '_**Truth Revealed**_**' by ****Fallen Crest****. It's for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, so if you're a fan you should definitely check it out!**

**Alright, useless ramblings aside, here's the lay down: this takes place at the very beginning of the Oración Seis Arc, right after Wendy is introduced, so she and Carla are not yet members of Fairy Tail, Mystogan has disappeared with no explanation, Lisanna has not yet returned to Earthland (nobody's even aware she's alive), Jellal has not yet been revived/redeemed, Laxus was excommunicated and isn't with the guild, Gildarts is not aware he is Cana's father, nobody knows who Zeref really is, etc, etc. Basically, everything from the recent (2014) Fairy Tail anime hasn't happened yet. Which makes this a lot more fun to work with. :3**

**This isn't a watching chapter, unfortunately; I needed to set everything up. Don't worry, the real stuff is coming soon!**

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**Prologue Part 1: Time and Space! Darkness and Light! The Tome of Prophecy is Found!**

Levy McGarden scanned the long shelf before her, humming in thought as her eyes darted from title to title in the fruitless effort of finding something to read. After six years of living in Fairy Tail's halls, the small script mage had reread every book in the library at least twice, but once in a while a new book would appear on the shelves after it was found by one member or another, everyone aware of Levy's love for the written word.

'_It would be nice if we updated the library a little more often,_' the tiny mage thought to herself in slight exasperation as she reached the end of the row, unable to find anything that piqued her interest at the moment.

Sighing in disappointment, Levy moved toward her usual work space (a small desk in the middle of the bookshelves, stray papers, ink bottles and feathered pens littering almost the entire surface) and plopping into the seat in front of it, eyes narrowed in frustration as she gazed at the ceiling.

Her expression mellowed somewhat after a minute. '_I was hoping a good read could distract me, but…_' she stopped mid-thought, a pensive expression forming on her face.

Earlier that day, she'd heard that Natsu and his team had gone off to join an alliance of the strongest members of the nearby guilds to take on some group called Oración Seis, a rising Dark Guild that was already gaining a reputation (and not a good one at that).

Even though not much time had passed, and no word had been sent about any emergencies, Levy was worried – for the whole team, of course – but mostly for her friend Lucy, who was always roped into going along with Team Natsu on missions despite not being quite as strong as the other members.

While plenty strong on her own, Lucy didn't exactly stand a chance against powerhouses like Natsu, Gray, and Erza, and these Oración Seis people sounded like they were at least as strong as them, if not stronger.

Biting her lip worriedly, Levy glanced sideways at a clock on the wall, sighing again when she discovered it hadn't even been ten minutes since the last time she'd looked at it. '_Sometimes, I really hate not being able to help,_' she thought, an air of depression clouding her for a moment as she stretched her arms out to flop all the way across her desk.

_Thunk!_

Levy lifted her head in surprise at the sound, her hand having brushed against something and sent it toppling to the floor. '_Did I put something here and forget about it?_' she thought in confusion as she stood and circled around to see what had fallen. It wasn't like her to forget something on her desk; she always stored away any books she'd taken off the shelves exactly where she'd found them, no matter how deep into the library's bowels she'd have to walk.

She knelt down, carefully lifting up the thick, leather bound volume she had discovered haphazardly pushed onto the floor. Blinking in surprise, she held it up to investigate.

It was older than most of the books in the Fairy Tail library, evidently well taken care of, with lightly yellowed pages and only slightly creased on the cover's edges, the entire thing almost as thick as her hand was wide, and it had an old-fashioned clasp holding the entire thing shut. The title, written across the top, was comprised of several indecipherable runes that almost made Levy cross her eyes in her attempts to read them (and that was just _weird;_ she'd read a few old texts before, but nothing quite matched this bizarre language in front of her). Beneath the strange lettering were seven small magic circles, all set up in a specific pattern; three on the top, three on the bottom, forming two semi-circles that just barely connected into a ring surrounding the largest circle in the middle.

The blunette gaped quietly at her discovery, not quite sure what to do. She'd never come across a book she couldn't read before, and certainly nothing quite like this one. The magic circles detailed across the front were unfamiliar; or at least, some of them were. She had the strangest feeling she'd seen a couple of them before, but she couldn't think of where…

Jumping to her feet enthusiastically, she scurried back to sit in her desk chair, placing the tome on the wooden surface to open a drawer and pull out one of her favorite translation books, flipping it open to try to find anything that matched the runes scrawled across the leather.

After fifteen minutes of searching, she slammed the book shut, a small pout painting her features when she couldn't find a match. "Just what exactly are you, anyway?" she asked aloud, silently daring the mysterious tome to answer her question.

Predictably, no such answer was forthcoming.

Leaning back in her chair, Levy tapped her chin a couple of times, thinking for a solution to her newest dilemma. "Perhaps the inside has different writing?" she said thoughtfully, looking back at the tome doubtfully.

She didn't think that was really the case, but even so… "Worth a shot," she murmured with a shrug, sitting upright and reaching out both hands to carefully unclasp the metal from the leather, moving slowly to ensure the ancient material didn't disintegrate on the spot.

The toughened strap holding the covers together opened with little resistance, the script mage heaving a large sigh when it didn't break accidentally in her delicate hands.

A smile already gracing her features in her excitement, she quickly flipped the cover open.

And that was the last thing she saw before she blacked out.

**F~T**

All across the kingdom of Fiore, a large group of people – a very _distinct_ group of people, too – disappeared without warning at exactly the same time, though nobody noticed this, as everything simply _stopped_ where it was.

Time is a fickle mistress, not an easy thing to manipulate, especially over a large area such as an entire kingdom – or entire _world_ really – but stop it did, at exactly the same second Levy flipped her newest book open.

Because 400 years earlier when the tome was written, a certain author deemed it so, and therefore it would be.

**F~T**

Far from Fiore's mainland, on a distinctly magical island invisible to most searching eyes, a dark-haired young man sat up from his former lounging position, soft black eyes narrowing in concentration as he felt the ancient magic take hold of most of the world around him.

"Someone found the tome?" he questioned aloud, surprised. It had been hidden for so long… he honestly hadn't expected anyone to be able to find it. Not for a few more centuries, at least.

Then again…

"Did _Natsu_ find it?!" he gasped in disbelief, shooting to his feet at the thought. "I know he has the power to eliminate me, and he's certainly one for finding the strangest situations, but I didn't think he'd-"

"It wasn't Natsu," a light voice cut in.

The black robed boy turned his head slightly at the familiar tone, nonplussed to find a young girl sitting not six feet from him on top of a boulder, long pale blonde hair flowing almost to the ground in the strong wind that had kicked up around them.

Pupil-less green eyes met his dark orbs evenly, a happy smile stretching her mouth upward when his expression softened at the sight of her. "While he is indeed powerful, I'm afraid he isn't quite book smart like you'd hoped," she continued, tilting her own head slightly, the twin wings adorning the sides of her skull fluttering in the wind.

The boy's expression twisted in rarely shown wry amusement at that statement. "Nobody's perfect," he said, a self-deprecating sigh making its way past his lips as he looked down at his own hands for a moment.

The girl said nothing to this, though her lips curved downward at the dismal tone of his voice.

Shaking his head, the boy redirected his attention to the girl dressed in light pink and blue robes near him once more. "Who found it? _Why_ did they find it? Was it an accident?" he asked, brows furrowing in thought even as he spoke.

The girl frowned even more, shaking her head helplessly. "I don't know _why_; Percy tends to do these things without informing me of the details, unfortunately. I _do_ know that one of Natsu's Guild mates, Levy, just found it in her library not ten minutes ago. She managed to open it and activated the spell, which, as you know, froze time outside of the island and sent her guild and anyone else Percy chooses to who-knows-where to watch the future she's always trying to mess around with."

The darker of the two raised an eyebrow. "I thought that book of hers _told_ prophecies, not _showed them._" He said slowly, feeling a little out of the loop. Ever since leaving society over 400 years ago, he was never well informed about most things that happened after he'd left; the book in question had been written almost directly after he'd gone into hiding.

The girl's face morphed into an irritated pout, kicking her legs repeatedly against the rock underneath her. "I don't know! Percy never tells me anything anymore!" she complained, acting much more like her physical age than usual.

The boy sighed again (he'd done that a lot since meeting the young spirit he'd befriended) slowly returning to the ground to sit. "So we're stuck here, with no idea what's going on, until she deems it necessary to inform us what exactly it is she's up to?" he muttered, glaring up at the darkening sky as if it was Percy herself.

"Pretty much," the girl said, still pouting from her place on the rock.

Instead of relaxing like she'd expected him to, the ebony-haired youth remained stiffly upright, his hands slowly tightening into fists in his lap. Her face smoothed out into an expression of concern, her eyebrows knitting together. "… Are your powers building up again?" she asked quietly, noticing his body beginning to shake from the strain of holding back the inevitable.

He didn't need to answer, but the muffled grunt she got in reply was proof enough of her assumption for her to slide off of her perch and walk over to his side, quietly kneeling next to her old friend as she often did.

"I drove all of the animals away from the area; it's safe if you can't hold it back anymore," Mavis Vermilion, First Guild Master of Fairy Tail and guardian of Tenrou Island, said calmly, gently placing one small hand onto the other's larger fist in support.

Zeref, the strongest, most dangerous Dark Mage in history, hailed and feared as the Devil of Earthland, gritted his teeth as a tear silently slipped down his grimacing face, his anguished dark eyes meeting the soft, sad green ones across from him. He was unable to articulate his gratitude to the small, sprite-like girl, but the tranquil smile she gave him told him she already knew.

**F~T**

Tenrou Island lay outside of the world, almost on its own, separate plane of existence. No living human being, other than an unfortunately cursed Mage and his ghostly friend, had set foot on its shoreline for nearly one hundred years.

It almost always remained untouched by both time and space, so it's only natural that the island's sentient occupants noticed anything odd in the air when either fundamental law of the universe was messed with.

So, acting against what fate had decreed and time had seen pass, a book was found and opened, a spell activated, and destiny changed forever; for better or for worse.

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**A/N: How was that? I'm not exactly a ZerefXMavis shipper (she's so fricking young-looking, it's just too creepy!) however my personal headcanon includes these two being friends during the time they spent together on Tenrou Island.**

**I don't know why, but I really love Zeref; I know he's supposed to be evil and everything, but God **_**damn**_** it he was just so pitiful in the Tenrou Arc, I was crying so much when I figured out he didn't want to kill anyone but he had no choice in it and UGH.**

**Ignoring my extreme fangirl moment above, do you think I got the characterization right for everyone? I'm still pretty new to this fandom, so I don't know if I got it down correctly. Please tell me if I need to tweak anything!**

**Seeing as the relationship between Zeref and Natsu **_**still **_**hasn't been explained yet, I tried to keep that little detail vague enough to fit in with anything Mashima-sensei writes in the future just so I don't need to go back and edit an entire freaking CHAPTER because of something like that. I know several theories about their relationship – hell, I've developed one on my own – but I do not wish to confirm anything yet.**

**I think I'm done rambling again… (Geez, these A/N are practically chapters on their own! Sorry about that!) Anyway, please review and tell me what you think of the beginning! The first actual watching-the-episodes chapter will come out as soon as the second prologue is up as well (yes, there are _two _prologues, I couldn't figure out how to mesh them together correctly. Live with it!) so please be patient. See ya then!**

**~Persephone**


	2. Prologue 2: Watching the Future!

**DISCLAIMER: Fairy Tail is not owned by me! It is the rightful property of Hiro Mashima! I am simply borrowing it for my own twisted amusement! Please do not sue me!**

**Rated for language and possible adult humor. Seriously, if you're not at least fifteen you shouldn't be watching Fairy Tail in the first place, considering the extreme fanservice it likes to dish out.**

**A/N: OK then, this is part 2 of the prologue! Please enjoy, and also please don't complain for me to get to the actual chapters; they're coming soon, I promise!**

**Also, just because I'm the author and I like to mess around with shit, I decided not only to pack the whole FT guild in and the Allied Forces to boot, along with all of Lucy's summons, I also added in a much younger Twin Dragon Slayers and their Exceeds into this story. Because I can. (This is before the seven year timeskip, so they're both twelve, the same age as Wendy; isn't that freaky?! If she hadn't gotten caught in the time-bubble spell, Wendy would be the same age as Sting and Rogue in the GMG Arc! :O) And because this is the past, Rogue will be going by his original name, Ryos.**

**I think that's it… Enjoy!**

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**Prologue Part 2: Arrival! Watching the Future and Saving Tomorrow!**

Lucy Heartfilia hit the ground with a soft "_ooph!_" of surprise, having no memory of her feet leaving the highly polished floor of the hall they'd met the other Allied Force members in or the sensation of falling backward. She'd simply been standing, staring in slight bewilderment at the small girl – Wendy, right? – from Cait Shelter with her talking cat Carla – just like Happy, what was up with that?! – and now she was on the ground, with no idea how she'd gotten there.

She stared blankly at the patterned ceiling for a moment, her forehead crinkling in silent confusion. "What the heck was that?" she asked, not bothering to elaborate on what exactly she was talking about. Maybe Natsu had bowled her over in his excitement again…

"Are you alright, my princess?" a familiar voice practically purred to her left and Lucy rolled her eyes – '_If those losers from Blue Pegasus **really **think I'm going to fall for that line…_' – before blinking in shock as the one who'd spoken quickly appeared beside her.

"Loke?!" she gasped in total surprise, for it indeed was her handsome summon, smirking at her in a charming manner from behind his signature sunglasses.

"But of course! As your knight, I must always come when my princess is in danger!" he said, striking a dramatic pose to go along with the line. Lucy stared at him blankly for a moment, unable to fight back a small smile at his bizarre ways of showing his affection for her. It was nice to be around Loke when they weren't being peppered with attacks by tiny flying soul-dolls or whatever it was those things Bickslow had were.

"Princess, are you uninjured?" asked another voice, and suddenly Virgo popped up right beside Loke, startling the Celestial Spirit Mage enough to make her sit up.

"Virgo! You're here-" Lucy looked around in shock. Loke and Virgo weren't the only Spirits here; Cancer, Aquarius, Taurus, and who she assumed to be Sagittarius sat off to one side, each completely relaxed despite the unusual circumstances, with Plue wobbling over to her on shaky legs, making his signature "pun, pun," noises as he went. Across from the Zodiac Spirits, Crux was slumped over in sleep as he usually was when she summoned him, which wasn't really a surprise, Horologium keeping him upright with his tall wooden body, looking nonplussed, while Lyra happily strummed her harp, humming under her breath absently. "-too?" Lucy finished blankly, her jaw nearly unhinging as she saw all ten of her Spirits. Together. At the same time.

_Holy crap._

"W-what are you all doing here?!" Lucy gasped, absentmindedly placing Plue in her lap and wrapping her arms around his shaking form when he managed to wobble up to her on his back legs.

"No idea!" Lyra said cheerfully, pausing in her music-making to grin at her Summoner.

"We all just woke up here, and might I say Miss Lucy, you look absolutely _fantastic_ when you're unconscious!" Taurus chimed in, hearts shining in his eyes as he leapt forward as if to embrace her, only to be shoved aside by an irritated Loke.

"Did you summon us?! I was in the middle of a date with my boyfriend! My _really hot_ boyfriend!" Aquarius complained loudly, ignoring her battling brethren in favor of glaring down at the Celestial Wizard with her narrow blue eyes, putting extra emphasis on the fact that she had something Lucy didn't.

"… I can't even summon two of you at a time, let alone…" Lucy said slowly, her gaze flickering from one Spirit to the next, her arms tightening around Plue.

Loke, turning his attention from Taurus, didn't bother reminding her that she _had_, in fact, summoned them all at once before, because what was currently happening was a bigger issue at the moment.

Suddenly, the tense atmosphere of the small room – it wasn't overly large, just big enough to hold Lucy and all ten of her variously sized Spirits without it getting cramped – was interrupted when the door was unceremoniously kicked open and sent straight into the wall opposite, narrowly missing Crux, who startled awake at the loud _bang!_ Loke and Virgo immediately slid into defensive positions in front of their owner, but this action proved unnecessary when the disturbance revealed itself to be Lucy's salmon-haired teammate and best friend, Natsu Dragneel.

"LUCY!" the Fire Mage cried, leaping forward and somehow dodging past both Celestial Spirits to literally _glomp_ the frazzled blonde with both arms enthusiastically, sending Plue plummeting to the floor when Lucy shoved the small dog summon away to ensure he wasn't squashed. Thankfully, the ever-ready Cancer quickly caught him before he could hit the floor, so that was one disaster averted.

A higher-pitched voice echoed Natsu's cry, and a tiny blue blur joined the hug as Happy quickly attached himself to the side of Lucy's head, the only place he could reach with Natsu practically pinning her to the ground.

"We were so worried!" the talking cat wailed, tears of over-exaggerated misery flooding down his face as he nuzzled his head against her.

"We woke up in this weird room with everyone else in the Guild but you weren't there and we thought you got captured by those evil Dark Wizard people we were going to go fight!" Natsu continued the tirade, also nuzzling into her affectionately.

Lucy felt a tick mark appear on her forehead as she shoved the boy off of her and kicked him – hard – in the face, sending him flying. "Don't hug me like that, you perv!" she snarled, fires raging in her eyes.

Off to the side, Loke stifled a snort as most of the less serious Spirit Summons chuckled at the interaction.

"It's about time someone else knocked some sense into him," commented a new voice, and Lucy looked up from where she was glaring at the bloody heap that was Natsu to see the commanding figure of Erza Scarlet in the doorway, a serious expression on her face as she nodded in approval of Lucy's actions. Just behind her, Lucy could see Gray Fullbuster, the last member of their team, trying in vain to keep his laughter at the fact that his long-time rival had been taken out so quickly by a girl silent, not wishing to attract Erza's ire.

"Erza! Gray! Do you guys know what's going on?" Lucy asked, ignoring the moan of pain coming from her usual partner on the floor as Happy poked him to ensure he wasn't dead.

"We were hoping you might know something. When we couldn't find you, we assumed the worst," Erza said, calmly surveying the room and taking stock of all its otherworldly occupants.

Lucy walked toward her Guild mates, noting that her Spirits immediately got up to follow. They were confused, but of course wherever their master went, especially when there was potential danger around, they would follow. She smirked a little when Loke flipped Natsu onto his shoulder, carrying him like a sack of potatoes.

"I just woke up in here with Loke and the others. Are you telling me that everyone else is here too?" she asked, walking out of the door…

…only to be met by utter chaos.

This room was far larger than the one she had just exited, with a high, arched ceiling with a beautiful chandelier hanging from the very center. Most of the far wall was overtaken by a blank dark screen, with a large semi-circle of couches and lounge chairs spreading out around it, like a large home movie theater.

But it was the room's people that caught her attention.

To her immediate right, Gajeel Redfox and Laxus Dreyar (when did he get back?!) were having something of a glaring contest, with a flustered looking Levy trying desperately to pull the Iron Dragon Slayer away from the Lightning Dragon Slayer, who was backed up by all three of his lackeys, Freed Justine, Bickslow, and Evergreen. A gaggle of small time Fairy Tail members had broken off from the main group near the middle of the room and gathered to watch the show, catcalling and jeering in an attempt to get a reaction (excommunicated or not, Laxus had once been one of the most popular mages of Fairy Tail, and most members still supported him against the former Phantom Lord Wizard). Master Makarov watched this interaction with a rather exasperated expression on his face.

The gathered wizards who had been joined into the Allied Forces along with Team Natsu were farther off, looking a bit out of place surrounded by so many wizards who weren't from their own guild. The Trimens (Hibiki, Eve, and Ren) were flirting with Mirajane, who stood to the side, watching Laxus and Gajeel with a worried frown. Elfman was glaring at the trio threateningly, which of course did not deter them in the slightest.

The girl, Wendy, and her cat Carla, were even farther off, Carla stalking back and forth across the room as if searching for a way out while Wendy fretted to herself, looking even smaller than she did when she'd introduced herself as Cait Shelter's representative.

There were a few others dotted here and there that Lucy didn't recognize, but she ignored them for the most part, quickly picking out all of her friends and allies from Fairy Tail.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy spotted a rather unkempt Juvia a little behind Gray, who had come up beside her and Erza to look at the mess they had landed in.

"It's a mad house! The only reason it isn't worse is because I mowed Natsu down!" Lucy stated in shock, eyes wide and mouth gaping open.

"Thanks for that, by the way; when we couldn't find you, he nearly flipped all of the couches over," Gray added, smirking at his unconscious rival before switching attention to Lyon Vastia, his _other _rival, standing with Lamia Scale's group in the huddle of the Allied Forces. Catching his gaze, the other Ice Mage glared right back, and a second glaring contest was abruptly started and ended almost immediately when Erza gently (or as gentle as Erza could get, which wasn't exactly 'gentle') smacked Gray's arm, nearly sending him to the floor.

"That's enough! Why don't we all just sit down and figure out where we are in a calm, orderly fashion?!" Erza demanded, raising her voice so that it echoed throughout the whole room.

Most of the Fairy Tail wizards all froze at the commanding tone of the infamous Titania, slinking away from the potential fight to sit on the couches without a fuss, not wishing to be on the receiving end of a punishment from her. Macao practically ran, hauling his son Romeo with him, with his friends Wakaba and Nab quickly following. Most of the wizards from the other guilds looked a bit surprised that this order was followed with such haste and no questions asked, but did as they were told as well without much protest. However, a few (Wendy, and a pair of young boys Lucy hadn't noticed before) stayed where they were.

Lucy shared a look with Loke, who proceeded to drag Natsu off and lead the other Celestial Spirits to the couches as well, a smug-looking shirtless Gray and a star-struck Juvia right behind them. "Go on ahead Erza, I'll be there in a second," the Stellar Spirit Mage assured the redhead beside her.

Erza nodded promptly, stalking forward to take a seat among the others, on the same couch as Gray and Juvia, both on either side of her looking distraught at being stuck with her as couch-mates - Gray simply because he didn't want to _die, _and Juvia because now she was separated from her crush.

Smiling at her over-the-top teammate's antics, Lucy turned and walked over to the trio of young kids, who had somehow ended up all together now that the grown-ups were talking.

"-so you too, huh?" one of the boys – a blonde, his hair color surprisingly close to Lucy's own – was saying as she got closer to them.

"Do you know where we are?" Wendy asked timidly, one hand half covering her mouth in her nervousness.

"Speak up, child!" Carla chided almost absently, as if it were a habit, not taking her attention off of the wall in front of her, as if expecting it to open up at any second.

Wendy immediately repeated the question, voice slightly louder this time.

"Nope!" the blonde said, grinning cheekily at Wendy's downcast expression.

"We woke up here about ten minutes before you guys arrived," said the other boy. His hair was black, a stark contrast to his friend's lighter color scheme. Despite his bangs half hanging in his face his mouth was tilted upward in a small smile at the young blunette's distress. "It isn't dangerous, as far as we can tell, but there's no way out of here. We've been looking for a while."

"You really shouldn't be so nonchalant about being stuck in a strange room, Ryos," commented a small voice, making Lucy stiffen up in surprise. While she'd been walking towards the three young wizards, she hadn't seen that the two boys were both holding something; these turned out to be two small cats (much smaller than Carla and Happy), one red and one green. And they could both apparently talk.

_What the actual heck?!_

"Exactly how many kids have talking cats nowadays?!" Lucy just barely kept her voice from reaching a shriek at the end, but her exclamation ended up gaining the attention of the three children and their cats.

The mini-blonde grinned at her, holding up his tiny red kitten in a near mocking way. "What, you jealous? I would be too, Lector is just that awesome!" he exclaimed, pulling Lector away just as quickly.

'_He acts like a kid who just got a new action figure,_' Lucy thought in exasperation, unimpressed by the blonde's teasing.

The darker boy, Ryos, smiled at her shyly, and she felt a little like a melting candy bar at his adorable look. "Sorry about Sting, he can be pretty weird sometimes," he said, sweat-dropping at the aforementioned blonde's great show of rolling his eyes. '_And isn't he just the sweetest thing?!_' Lucy thought with an inward squeal, smiling at the quieter boy – whom reminded her suspiciously of herself when she had to apologize for Natsu's insane behavior.

"Uh, Miss Lucy, did you want something?" Wendy asked, fidgeting a little with her hands.

"I just wanted to make sure you guys were going to join us; we were going to try and hash a way out of here," the Celestial Wizard explained, looking over her shoulder and resisting the urge to sigh with relief that nothing had blown up yet. You could never be sure with so many hostile Wizards in the same room.

"There isn't a way out of here," Sting said flatly, surprising both Lucy and Wendy. He had straightened up, arms crossed, holding Lector against his chest with a bland look on his face. "Didn't I say we got here a while ago? Ryos and I have been trying to find a way out; no luck."

"It's true; neither of us can even use our magic in here," Ryos said in agreement, hugging his own green kitten with a slightly worried look.

Lucy bit her lip in surprise; she, of course, could not test this theory given that all of her Summons were somehow here...

Carla abruptly took the decision out of her hands when she gasped sharply. "W-what is it, Carla?!" Wendy asked, flustered as her tiny guardian stared over her shoulder at her back in something akin to horror.

"M-my wings… they aren't coming out! My transformation magic isn't working!" she said, sounding almost mortified at this fact.

"Told you," Sting said, sticking his tongue, only for Ryos to step on his foot not-so-subtly.

'_So…. We can't use magic here?_' Lucy thought, perplexed. She'd never heard of any spells capable of preventing magic from working at all. Could a barrier spell have this effect…?

"What the WHAT?!"

Lucy felt a reluctant smile forming on her face as she looked back at where the familiar shout came from. The trio of younger wizards all looked around her as Natsu made a show of punching the air rapidly, looking like he had been about to charge at Gray for one reason or another, practically flailing his arms in helpless frustration.

"My magic won't work!" he exclaimed, pumping his fists even faster as if this would change the outcome.

Similar cries of shock quickly came from nearly the entire group as all the wizards fruitlessly tried to activate their powers, to no avail.

Lucy motioned for the kids to follow her, which they did without complaint. Carla quickly fell into step beside Wendy, and Sting and Ryos both carried their small charges as the Celestial Wizard led the way into a war-zone of frustrated and suspicious mages angrily snarling at each other over their lost magic.

"What the hell? Why won't it work?!"

"This is Freed's fault, I just know it! He's the only one that knows barrier spells that could stop magic!"

"Leave me out of this, Droy! I had nothing to do with this!"

Lucy ducked as a cushion was sent sailing over her head by a pissed-looking Elfman into Ren's face for the earlier flirting with Mirajane. She didn't even bother listening to the Blue Pegasus Mage's screech of shock as she quickly shepherded her three young charges into the much safer area at the top of the arch of couches where all of her Celestial Spirits and Master Makarov were sitting.

"Whoa! Is this what it's like in a Guild all the time?!" Sting exclaimed, watching enthusiastically as Lyon sent a flying kick into Gray's face, only to be abruptly tackled by an enraged Juvia, who was screaming "How dare you touch my beloved Gray?!"

"Yes, yes it is," said Lucy in a deadpan tone, flatly watching as the arguing between mages quickly escalated into a full-scale cushion battle, Natsu, Gajeel and Laxus only adding to the destruction.

"They're pretty lively, huh?" Ryos said awkwardly, quickly side-stepping to avoid a pillow that had strayed too close for comfort, which then went on to smack an already irate Taurus in the face.

The large bull Spirit flung himself into the fray, mooing all the way, and despite missing his axe, he started sending people flying almost immediately.

"Honestly, they act as if they have no common sense whatsoever," Carla commented, staring at the Guild's insanity with the highest amount of disdain Lucy had ever seen from a two-foot tall cat.

"THAT'S ENOUGH! ALL OF YOU BACK TO YOUR SEATS!" Erza snapped, leaping into the middle of the mayhem to furiously punch both Gray and Natsu over the head, sending them both careening into the floor. Pivoting on one foot, she then sent a roundhouse kick into Taurus' ribs, making him fly out of the ring of couches. Lucy sweat-dropped at her Spirit's defeat, feeling a bit sympathetic for them, but not enough to actually go and help; they brought it upon themselves, after all.

"Did I miss anything while I was away?" Lucy asked, ignoring the moans coming from her battered allies and taking a seat in the middle of the rather large couch occupied by her Celestial Spirits. Sting dropped to the floor right beside her legs without any prompting, grinning up at her innocently when she directed a wary look towards him, with Ryos quickly following. Wendy joined them after a few moments of hesitation, not wanting to move away from the only other kids here that were her age. Carla muttered something about it being undignified for a young girl to sit on the floor, but other than that simply sat beside her charge.

"Nothing much, just these idiots dicking around as usual," Loke said calmly, smirking at his former Guild mates ridiculousness. Taurus managed to drag himself up behind the couch they were gathered on and collapsed, his eyes swirling comically.

"Princess, is it time for punishment?" Virgo asked, leaning over Lyra to look her Summoner in the eye. This question startled a laugh out of both boys and a giggle from Wendy, Carla sighing as if to silently ask "_how did I get stuck with these people again?_"

"No! Why would you even ask that at a time like this?!" Lucy demanded, flustered as she always was when the Maiden asked her such a thing.

"Um, everyone," a hesitant voice abruptly spoke up, causing everyone to look up in surprise to see a very awkward looking Levy fidgeting from her place squished onto a couch with Jet and Droy - who refused to leave her side - and Gajeel - who simply happened to be sitting there. Lucy was actually quite surprised to see her friend sitting so close to the Mage who had beaten her and her team so easily, but she didn't have time to question it as Levy held up a piece of paper in her hands. "I found this," she said as way of explanation for her interruption, holding the paper up for all of them to see.

Erza stalked forward immediately, making Levy shrink back in fright, but the elder woman merely took the paper from the script mage's hands with no fuss at all, leaving poor Levy to quiver in terror behind her, her two teammates flocking around her immediately. Lucy sent the girl an encouraging smile as Erza cleared her throat.

"_Dear every single person in this room-_"

"Wow, cause that's not vague at all," said Sherry Blendy from the Lamia Scale group, raising an eyebrow when everyone shushed her when a dark aura surrounded Erza in annoyance of being interrupted.

Erza sent the pink-haired mage a _look_ before continuing,

"_I have gathered you all here because a certain someone found a book about fifteen minutes ago. This book had a very powerful ancient spell placed upon it, and it has whisked you all to this room in a small pocket dimension and stopped time in the real world so that you may watch what is to come to the kingdom of Fiore in the next few years. The reason I did this is so I can help you – and through you, the world as a whole – avoid a terrible, dark future._

_"While you are here, magic is impossible; even the simplest of spells will not work, no matter how much energy you put into it or how hard you try. This is only a precaution just in case anyone feels especially trigger happy after a while. Also, I would ask that you please keep the fighting to a minimum, and if you do end up fighting, I would also ask that Erza please step in and handle it before it gets out of control._

_"Now, without further ado, the tale of the greatest heroes and villains in Earthland's history will now begin! ~Persephone,_" Erza finished, raising an eyebrow at the rather enthusiastic ending.

"Seeing the future? Is that even possible, Master Makarov?" asked Mirajane, making everyone turn expectantly to the small elderly wizard who ran Fairy Tail.

The tiny man hummed, leaning back in his chair contemplatively. "It's not unheard of; I've met more than one Seer in my time. But I've never heard of an entire group of people seeing the future all together."

"Perhaps it is because of this strange book the letter mentioned," said Evergreen, pushing up her glasses importantly from where she sat with Bickslow, Freed, and Laxus.

"Yeah, but what sort of magic is powerful enough to create a pocket dimension _and _let an entire group of people see the future at the same time?!" asked a man Lucy didn't recognize, making her double-take. He was tall, with slicked back orange hair and a rather tattered brown cloak across his shoulders. His left arm seemed to be covered in armor. None of the other Guild members looked surprised to see him, so he must be someone she simply hadn't met yet.

"Who's that?" she whispered to Loke, not wanting to interrupt.

"That's Gildarts, one of Fairy Tail's S-Class Wizards," he whispered back quickly.

"I've got no idea!" laughed Makarov in answer, making half the Guild face-fault into the ground at his cheerful, oblivious laugh.

"Are all Fairy Tail wizards this strange?" asked Ryos, looking quite perplexed at the carefree manner of the Guild Master.

"Just about," Lucy admitted with a sheepish grin.

The screen on the far wall abruptly lit up, gaining the attention of the room's occupants.

"Whoa, is it starting?!" Natsu exclaimed, startling Lucy as appeared out of fricking _nowhere_ right next to her, quite rudely shoving his way in between her and Loke.

"Ugh, watch it, Flame-brain!" the Lion of the Zodiac snapped, with no real bite to the complaint, though he sent a look to Lucy as if to say, "_we will meet again one day, my love!_" Lucy smiled at him awkwardly, not noticing the calculating look Mirajane sent the three of them, a devious smile already forming on her lips.

"Shut it! There's nowhere else to sit!" Natsu defended hotly (no pun intended). Actually, Lucy could very well see an open space on a couch closer to the screen, but since Gray, Erza and Juvia seemed to be occupying it, it was probably better that Natsu stay here instead. Happy appeared, quickly jumping into Natsu's lap, which thankfully stopped the argument before it could get into full swing.

Lucy could simply breathe a sigh and turn back to the screen, which seemed to have been waiting for everyone to pay attention before actually activating.

'_What a weird thing,_' Lucy thought, sweat-dropping quietly, '_Then again, watching the future like it's a movie isn't exactly normal. I wonder what that book in the letter has to do with it though?_'

**F~T**

A smirk slowly crossed the young woman's face as she watched the crazed Guild members settle down on the couches as if this were any other movie night.

"Thank God for calming spells," she sighed to herself, snapping the tome with the aforementioned spell in it shut before putting it off to the side on her table and getting to her feet, stretching her arms above her head at her leisure.

"Geez," she continued, directing her green eyes toward the ceiling above her. Most of the space she was in was dark, except for the orb that was showing her the people she'd caught, but that didn't bother her. "Who knew getting them all together and then keeping them from killing each other right off the bat was so hard? Man, I knew I should have let Mavis in on this," she said tiredly, slumping over a little in dejection.

Looking back at the orb showing her the mages most involved with the future of the world, she allowed a small, sad smile onto her face.

"Then again, if she were here, Zeref would get lonely," she murmured, her eyes narrowing at the shadows around her, "And when he gets lonely, he starts thinking. And when he starts thinking, he notices just how bad the human race can get, and having him focus on the negatives of life too much will just lead to a bad ending."

Turning around swiftly, she walked across her dark and gloomy room, ignoring several tattered and worn souvenirs hanging on the walls in favor of reaching the door. One such 'souvenir' was a ragged and torn black scarf; much like the one Natsu Dragneel was currently sporting in the amphitheater, only his was white. "I'd like to avoid the bad ending this time," Persephone muttered, her eyes narrowing as she passed it, and she left the room without another word.

* * *

**A/N: ****And the plot thickens! *cackles madly* What, you thought this was simply about watching the Fairy Tail anime?! Nay, this is a lot more than that, ladies and gents! :3**

**So? Not terrible, right? I'll try to involve every character as much as possible, but no promises; if you notice one that isn't being used much, please point it out!**

**The OC Persephone (me) won't be interfering too much unless something major happens, so you can rest easy about that.**

**I know, I kinda went a bit overboard on Sting and Ryos, but those two are in my top ten favorite FT characters of all time, so… if I focus a lot on them, don't be surprised. And if these two seem a bit OOC, I'd like to point out this takes place SEVEN WHOLE YEARS before the GMG Arc, so it's to be expected! Seven years is a long time, every person can change in that time-frame.**

**I thought it would be fun to involve the Celestial Spirits as well, so I thought '_what the hell?_' and threw them in there. Of course, Loke is also one of my top ten…**

**Also, the actual chapters won't be so focused on one specific character unless that character has some sort of huge reaction to something, I just thought starting this out with Levy and Lucy would be best since I'm best at writing female POVs.**

**Last but not least, ships will be brought up in this story. Quite frequently, too. The main ones that are likely to appear are NaLu, Gruvia, GaLe, Jerza, ElfEver, AlzackXBisca, NaLi, LoLu, and any other practically canon or totally canon ship in the show.**

**PLEASE do not heckle me about ships you want to see in this story; they might come up at certain points, but I'm not gonna make a total NaLu moment turn into a GrayLu moment just because someone asked for it.**

**Uh…. I think that's it! The next update should be the actual watching-the-show chapter, which I will release on Thursday of this week! (Please do not urge me to update faster, Thursday is the day!) See you then!**

**~Persephone**


	3. Episode 1: The Fairy Tail!

**DISCLAIMER: Fairy Tail is not owned by me! It is the rightful property of Hiro Mashima! I am simply borrowing it for my own twisted amusement! Please do not sue me!**

**Rated for language and possible adult humor. Seriously, if you're not at least fifteen you shouldn't be watching Fairy Tail in the first place, considering the extreme fanservice it likes to dish out.**

**A/N: Hey! We're finally here! This is the first actual watching-the-episodes chapter! But first of all, a few announcements:**

**Despite my preference for the English sub (I like the dub, I'm just used to the sub!) I'll be taking lines from the dub performance because I prefer the way they word things and it also makes it much easier to time exactly when certain things are said.**

**If a character you like or want to see does not speak much or doesn't speak at all, it's because I don't really know their personality that well and do not wish to use them without being sure I can get them at least halfway decent.**

**And finally, here's a guide to the actual story so you don't get confused:  
Bold text – what happens to the characters in the episodes.  
**_**Bold italic text – spells/incantations/narration/actions/sound effects in the episodes.**_**  
**Normal text – what's happening to the characters in reality.  
_Italic text – actions/sound effects in reality._

**OK, I think that's everything… Enjoy!**

* * *

**Episode 1: The Fairy Tail!**

**Light grey clouds filled the screen, pulling back one by one to reveal a stylized map of Fiore, with the kingdom's name written across what appeared to be an unfurled ribbon. "**_**In a land far, far away, lies the kingdom of Fiore,**_**" an older man's voice began.**

"Who's the old guy?" Natsu interrupted almost immediately, earning him a rather unimpressed look from his blonde partner.

"It's called 'narration', genius," she said blankly, making Natsu pout at her, which she ignored in favor of squeezing Plue to her chest.

"What does it mean 'far, far away'? We _live _in Fiore!" Sting hissed quietly to the duo he sat on the floor with. Wendy blinked, and Ryos shrugged awkwardly.

"Shh!" someone scolded near the front, though a few others who'd heard his question were perplexed as well.

**Soft music flooded the room along with the man's voice. "**_**A small peaceful nation of seventeen million,**_**" the narrator continued. The ribbon emblazoned with the country's name now resided inside a crystal ball, which sparked with magic under the hands of a cloaked wizard leaning over it. "**_**-and a place filled with magic. Found in every home, bought and sold in every marketplace,**_**" the crystal ball faded away to reveal several examples of casually used magic, the kinds usually done by most people instead of just wizards; a magically enhanced train; a man manipulating a few dying flowers; a scholar studying a magic circle in midair; a different man using a magical stove; a robed man demonstrating some sort of spell to a small crowd; and a last robed man driving a magical vehicle along a dirt road. "**_**For most, magic is a merely a tool, a mundane part of everyday life,**_**"**

The last line didn't sit too well with an entire room full of mages. Levy could _feel _the insulted air most of her Guild mates felt at magic being called a simple tool. She may not be a combat mage, but she still felt more than a little insulted on her talent's behalf.

Huffing, she crossed her arms, not even noticing that by leaning back a bit on the couch she accidentally brushed arms with Gajeel, who was sitting beside her. Of course, being the oblivious Dragon Slayer he was, he didn't notice either.

However, someone _did _notice – luckily, for once it wasn't Mirajane. Jet and Droy saw their team leader's arm brush Gajeel's, and while normally this would have set them both off the deep end, both young men remained silent, awkwardly unsure of what to do. It had been Levy's idea to sit here with the metal-eater, and neither of them could really tell her "no".

What were they supposed to say? "_Nope, sorry, I refuse to sit next to the man who tortured us and left us hanging to be humiliated!_" That would've made it worse. So, instead of complaining, the duo, usually quarreling for the blunette's attention, simply banded together in mutual agreement to keep an eye on the script mage and ensure the Dragon Slayer didn't do anything to her.

"_**-for some however,**_**" the voice continued, as the shadowy silhouettes of several gaudily dressed wizards with trademark hats and staffs took shape, overtaking the **_**normal **_**people completely, "**_**magic is an art, and they've devoted their lives to its practice.**_**"**

**The screen went dark, only to light up with the far more exciting images of wizards at work; half of a job sign detailing a large cash reward for the slaying of a beast; a pair of wizards taking on a creature made of shadow; a lone man trekking up a mountain trail despite a harsh blizzard, set on reaching a small object that was detailed in another job poster; a mage standing over a magic tome and performing a spell on an exotic plant. "**_**These are the Wizards**_**.**_** Banded together into magical Guilds, they apply their skills in search of fame and fortune,**_**" the narrator stated proudly.**

This, predictably, caused loud whoops and cheers of approval from the crowd of mages, Alzack, Wakaba, all three of the Trimens, and a few other males from Fairy Tail breaking into applause, though they quickly stopped at Erza's rather pissed expression.

**The image once more faded to the map of Fiore, detailing each Guild's unique building all across its surface. "**_**Many such Guilds dot the landscape of Fiore,**_**" the narrator paused for a moment.**

**Suddenly, the image changed again to a range of small mountains, an easily recognizable small blue winged figure soaring over them.**

"Hey, that's you, Happy!" Natsu cried, joyfully hugging his stunned companion.

"Aye!" Happy said automatically, a bit surprised he was the first to actually appear on screen.

"His cat can fly too?!" Ryos gasped quietly, sharing a scandalized look with Sting. What the heck is this, a conspiracy?! Can everyone's cat fly now?!

Carla let out an unimpressed huff, Wendy humming in thought beside her. They could both fly, and they both talked. Were they a specific breed? She would have said this aloud, but she bit her lip and remained silent; she didn't know anyone here other than Carla. She didn't want to risk annoying anyone.

"_**But there is a certain Guild, in a certain town, that soars high above the rest,**_**" the narrator stated as Happy flew over the mountains to reveal Magnolia, home of Fairy Tail itself, with the music becoming louder and far more dramatic as the narrator continued once more, "-**_**one from which countless legends have been born, a Guild that will no doubt continue to create legends well into the future, its name: is Fairy Tail!**_**" he concluded finally as Happy flew up to the Guild's main building and the screen shot up quickly to focus on said Guild's insignia above the main entryway.**

The cheers came once more, although a bit wilder and far more loudly as Natsu jumped up to strike a dramatic pose in the middle of the room. "YEAH! We're the best in the business, baby! Now I'm all fired up!" he roared, much to his Guild-mate's amusement as they cheered for him, even Erza cracking a smile at his insanity for a moment.

The other Guild Wizards, while not particularly bothered, couldn't help feeling a little left out; why no special mention for Blue Pegasus, or Lamia Scale? Why only Fairy Tail? Was the place really that great?

Lucy and Happy eventually managed to calm Natsu down enough so that he would sit, although that didn't stop him from smirking widely with pride for his Guild.

**The screen filled with the night sky, studded with white stars. Several small, ethereal humanoid bodies jumped across the screen, the wings on their backs keeping them aloft as a voice sang along with music.**

"_**Fairy, where are you going,"**_

"An opening theme?" Gray asked, puzzled.

Lyon let out a dubious snort. "Really, I don't see why you get such special treatment, you're not _that _great!"

"Hell yes we are! Come here and say that to my face, you bastard!" Gray snarled, almost leaping to his feet, only to be stopped by the combined efforts of Juvia and Erza. Unfortunately, Erza's method involved punching him – hard – in the ribs, which of course left him hunched over with poor, flustered Juvia fluttering over him uncertainly, wanting to help but too shy to do so.

"Quiet! I'd like to get through a minute of this without it being interrupted!" Erza scolded the lot of them, making everyone sink into their respective seats, trying to avoid her harsh glare.

"So fairies _do _have tails?" asked Wendy, quirking an eyebrow at the screen. Carla shook her head as an answer to the girls question, though to be honest she wasn't completely sure either.

**The tiny gathering of fairies flew over Magnolia, twinkling like stars as they continued their journey, over a boat in the sea, over a forest of trees and over Natsu, whose back was towards the screen, standing in a clearing looking up at the twinkling lights.**

"_**hikari zenbu atsumete kimi no ashita terasu yo"**_

**The fairies formed a large, sparkling version of the Fairy Tail insignia around the moon and stars, the words 'Fairy Tail' written in large red letters with the same sign stuck in between the words taking shape on the screen and the music picking up.**

"We get it, this is all about Fairy Tail, geez," Hibiki muttered from his place in the middle of the Blue Pegasus group, making Eve and Ren both chuckle at his exasperated expression.

**Abruptly, the starry sky became daytime, before flipping over to reveal Lucy standing on a tree-covered hill overlooking Magnolia with her back to the screen, Plue at her side.**

"_**Oh yeah! Kikoete no kakoro, no kae wa?**_**"**

**A fairy flew across the screen, apparently out of Lucy's sight, though it did gain her attention enough to make her turn towards the screen.**

**The screen changed to a different location, showing a shirtless Gray standing amid the ruins of a fallen building, looking out at nothing. The fairy flew by him as well, making him look up in confusion.**

"_**Oh yeah, kare tatte sakebu kara**_**"**

**The image changed once more, showing Erza standing over a large beast she had slain herself, a sword still in hand as she surveyed it's corpse. The fairy flew by her as well, making her open her eyes and look up.**

"_**Oh yeah, kikoeru made kimi no kokoro ga**_**"**

**Lastly, it came to show Natsu standing on the side of a grassy cliff, Happy right beside him, the wind blowing past them dramatically. Evidently, he needed no fairy to gain his attention; he spun around on his own, a wide grin and thumbs up in place as Happy popped up beside him, paws thrown open wide and beaming ecstatically.**

"_**Oh yeah, oh yeah!**_**"**

"What's up with you guys? Are you really high up in your guild or something?" Sting asked, looking up at Lucy who was still above him on the couch.

"Oh, well, I'm not really- we're the strongest team in Fairy Tail at the moment. Or, Natsu, Gray, and Erza are; I'm just sort of the sane one who keeps everyone on track," Lucy said, smiling despite herself.

"She's also the weird one!" added Happy, smiling innocently at the Celestial Mage, which earned him a rather violent punch to the head.

'_**She's **__the sane one?!_' Sting, Ryos, Wendy, and quite a few foreign Wizards all thought in unison, sweat-dropping at Lucy's carefree smile after her show of violence.

**A train appeared, moving across a bridge rapidly. Inside the compartment, Natsu sat slumped over with steam erupting from his mouth as he tried to control his stomach, Happy fanning him with a piece of paper. Lucy, sitting beside him, took no notice of her partner's dilemma, looking over a map with a smile on her face, Plue wobbling back and forth on his two back legs below her. Across from her, Erza was contentedly eating a slice of strawberry cake, Gray sitting beside her, looking bored.**

"_**tsuki to taiyou no haitachi**_**"**

**Another shot showed Team Natsu in a carriage drawn by a strange purple beast, Erza at the reins, Gray sitting on top with Happy beside him, and Lucy on the inside trying to keep Natsu from flopping out the back window.**

**This changed once more to show Natsu crazily devouring a couple of drumsticks while Happy consumed a fish, an unimpressed Lucy sitting across the small fire-pit and staring at Gray who was lying shirtless on the ground, reading something in the firelight, Erza in the far background lounging against her gigantic stacks of luggage.**

"_**wasuremono wa nai desuka?**_**"**

This image made Juvia bite her lip harshly, glaring at both the Lucy on screen and the Lucy in real life. '_How dare my rival look at Gray-sama with such disapproval! She is __**unworthy **__of Gray-sama's attention!_' she ranted inwardly, barely restraining herself from going over and pulverizing the unsuspecting Celestial Mage; the only thing that held her back was the fact that, magic-less or not, the blonde was literally surrounded by all of her friends and allies. Not really a fight she wanted to pick at the moment…

**A trembling, distressed Plue took over the screen, cobblestones slick with rain underneath him. He was revealed to be staring at a drenched Lucy, who was sitting on a bridge over a river in Magnolia in the middle of a rain storm, looking down and kicking her legs absently over the water.**

"_**okashii na kimi ga inai to**_**"**

**Suddenly, the rain stopped, and Lucy looked up from her depressing mood to see a waving Mirajane standing with the rest of Team Natsu, all of them smiling at her happily. Lucy stared for a moment before a grin of her own bloomed across her face in excitement.**

"_**hoshii momo sae mitsukara nai**_**"**

Lucy smiled at this in reality too. No matter how bad things became or how sad she could get, there was always someone there for her in Fairy Tail, especially her team, Mira, and Levy, her closest friends in the guild so far.

Unknown to the Stellar Spirit Mage, Natsu was grinning beside her too, glad that he could wipe that depressing mood from his friend.

Unnoticed by either, Mirajane smirked evilly, plots already forming in her head for their inevitable destruction- I mean, their inevitable _union_. Yeah, let's go with 'union'. Far less sinister…

**Natsu leapt across the screen, carrying a box away from a winged beast that was chasing after him. Erza stared nonchalantly at a job description, either not noticing or not caring about her teammate's distress as Lucy and Natsu were all wrapped up in the vines of a monstrous plant, Gray not far off trying ineffectually to strangle the flower's stem. Lucy and Natsu both ran towards the screen, desperately trying to avoid the angry swarm of abnormally large wasps as they escaped from their hive. Lucy laughed heartily as Natsu and Gray glared furiously at each, each covered with either an aura of fire or ice as they pressed into each other's face, daring the other to make a move first, with Happy sitting in front of them eating a large fish and Mirajane watching them with a small, unsurprised smile on her face.**

"_**Snowing, sunao ni egao ni nare ta no wa futari yorisoi kasane aruka 'Jikan' ga aru kara**_**"**

**Erza appeared, her hair blowing in the wind, as the shot pulled out to reveal the face of her former friend Jellal. This quickly switched to show Master Makarov, and it panned upward to show Macao and his son Romeo, Wakaba, Cana, Mirajane, Elfman, Loke, Levy, Jet and Droy.**

Although it had only been for a moment, Erza felt a wave of sadness fill her at the sight of her old friend. Jellal's betrayal… she still hadn't gotten over it. And it certainly didn't help that he was apparently dead now. She hadn't even been able to say goodbye, or get a proper explanation from him of what exactly his intentions had been. And then there was the whole thing with Mystogan as well... Her hands closed into fists at her sides, which, despite her skill at hiding it, was still noticed by Gray, who glanced at her worriedly.

Noticing his concern, Erza gave him a small smile and waved him off, much to Juvia's annoyance. '_Why won't Gray-sama look at __**me**__ like that?!_' the rain woman thought in despair, barely resisting falling into depression right then and there.

**Lucy leapt backward, waving her arm in a dramatic movement, summoning Taurus, Aquarius and Horologium all at the same time in a flash of light, Cancer, Virgo, and Plue following along soon after.**

**Natsu swallowed an entire string of fire, his chest expanding almost comically with the action as the camera pulled back to show the rocky landscape around him, a flash of bright light the only warning before a huge explosion went off, shooting a beam of fiery light into the sky.**

"_**Fairy, where are you going, hikari zenbu atsumete**_**"**

Lucy smiled, and raised her hand to high-five her partner at their dual appearance on screen. "You _would _blow up an innocent mountain," she couldn't help throwing in, her comment causing the entire room to break out in laughter.

"What can I say? I'm just that awesome," Natsu said, grinning at Lucy with no shame whatsoever, which only made her roll her eyes in fond exasperation, this action echoed by several others in the Guild who knew of Natsu's knack for destruction.

**The screen once more scrolled past the most prominent members of the guild that Lucy had met when she first joined, Droy, Levy, and Jet on the far left, with Elfman, Mirajane, Master Makarov, Cana, Wakaba, Romeo, Macao, and Loke all watching the light with fond expressions on their faces, obviously recognizing who caused it.**

"_**kimi no ashita terasu yo**_**"**

**A large, dog-eared monster roared threateningly, with all four of Team Natsu's members facing it head on, Lucy with her coiled whip in one hand instead of her keys, Natsu leaning back with an almost casual air around him, Erza and Gray just as relaxed farther back.**

**Natsu was shown glaring at the beast, for once a semi-serious expression on his face before the image rapidly changed to a flashback of him jumping onto Igneel's snout, a wide, cheerful grin on his face as he hugged his foster father.**

"_**Don't say goodbye!**_**"**

The Natsu in reality couldn't help feeling a little downtrodden at the sight, sinking down in his seat dejectedly. Lucy gazed at him worriedly. "The first time I see him in seven years, and it's only on some bizarre screen doohickey," he said, face falling into a pout that he was honestly too old for.

Lucy gave him a sympathetic smile, patting his arm gently while Happy glomped onto his chest. "I'm sure wherever he is, he's looking out for you," Lucy murmured quietly, making Natsu shoot her a surprised, yet grateful smile as he wrapped one arm around Happy and slung the other around Lucy's startled shoulders.

"Thanks, Lucy!" he said, grinning at her sincerely.

Below them, Sting remained indifferent to the image, though Lector felt his arms tighten around him unconsciously. Ryos' face twisted in something between guilt and unease, uncomfortably aware of his friend's feelings at the moment.

So Natsu was a Dragon Slayer, like them… that would explain the cat, at least. However, did that mean he had done what they had? Had he slain his foster father, just as they had? Just the thought made Ryos sink a little, trying to ignore the unwanted memories that came with thoughts of Skiadrum, his face twisting into a grimace.

Oblivious to the boys' reaction, Wendy was gazing at the screen sadly, barely refraining from bursting into tears on the spot. It had been so long since she saw Grandeeney… she hoped her mother was alright. Carla, noticing her young charge's change in mood, shifted closer to the girl and placed a paw on her arm, not bothering to say anything. It didn't matter; Wendy understood, and beamed at her small companion brightly.

Farther away, Gajeel shifted in his seat. He was unsure _what _to feel, exactly. He was rough around the edges, the kind of person to keep their emotions in a tight box and go about their business without showing how they felt to anyone. On the one hand, he missed Metalicana's brusque attitude and semi-affectionate taps on the shoulder; on the other, he'd gotten along fine without him for a long time, and he could keep going on without him just fine.

Stubborn as a mule, the Iron Dragon Slayer pushed down on any lingering 'feelings' and set his jaw – so totally not pouting. No, really, he wasn't. He was just glaring at the screen as he usually did, internally complaining about how pointless this was.

**Erza appeared, wielding one of her many swords, before instantaneously Requiping her near-casual attire into her favorite Heaven's Wheel winged armor, brandishing a sword above her head as she charged at a similarly eager Natsu, his fist covered in flame as he smiled, readily clashing with the renowned weapon's specialist, their joint attack causing a flash of light to overtake the screen, turning it white.**

**Happy appeared once more, wings unfurled behind him and grinning his ever-present grin, winking at the screen before the shot pulled back to show the entirety of Team Natsu, all posing in frozen positions in front of the Fairy Tail Guild building. Erza on the far right, Gray on the far left, both looked calm and collected, while their far more enthusiastic teammates took up most of the shot, Natsu lifting one fist in the air in his preferred battle-ready stance, while Lucy jumped slightly, winking as she held one of her summoning keys aloft, an open-mouth smile on her face. Plue was in the air nearby, leaping happily into the sky, making a nice contrast to Happy, who was in the same position across from him. The music went out with a loud guitar note, obviously signaling the end to the song.**

"We look good there!" commented Happy, nodding in approval at the final pose in an attempt to distract Natsu from his formerly melancholy mood as he remembered his father.

It worked; the salmon-hair fire-breather perked up at the image, taking in all the details in moments before beaming happily. "We look _awesome,_" he asserted, making Lucy giggle and Loke roll his eyes.

They were probably going to end up doing that a lot with Natsu there…

"I must say, I agree," Erza stated, surprising most of the others with her calm tone. She was smiling slightly at the image, nodding at it in approval.

"We should pose like that for Sorcerer Weekly sometime!" Lucy said enthusiastically, her eyes practically sparkling at the thought, which only made Taurus "_moo!_" excitedly and Aquarius roll her eyes, silently wondering how she had a contract with such a ridiculous girl in the first place.

**The screen went dark for a moment before an image of a harbor faded into view, the same unfurled-scroll design stating the city's name '****Hargeon****' in the bottom left corner of the screen.**

** "**_**This is the port town of Hargeon,**_**" the narrator stated.**

"No duh," muttered Gray, rolling his eyes.

**The view switched to a train station where a train had just stopped, black smoke pouring out of its stack and multiple passengers either entering or exiting the compartments.**

** "Um... excuse me, sir?" asked a puzzled attendant.**

** The beaming face of Happy overtook the screen. "Natsu!"**

This startled several people, causing chuckles and awkward muttering from most of the group.

"Geez, Happy, you sure love popping up out of nowhere, huh?" Lucy asked, sweat-dropping as she grabbed the cat's tail to keep him away from Cancer, who he had been edging towards with a suspicious glint in his eyes.

The Crab Spirit thanked his master, inwardly sighing in relief at not being bitten.

**"We made it to Hargeon!" the feline continued, patting his friend on the shoulder, trying in vain to get him on his feet after the long ride. "Come on, get up already!"**

** "Is he alright?" a sweat-dropping attendant asked, awkwardly hovering nearby, wondering what to do about the passenger collapsed on the ground with an air of sickness around him.**

** "He's fine! This **_**always **_**happens when he travels!" Happy assured the man.**

All of the Wizards from outside of Fairy Tail all sweat-dropped practically in unison, formerly unaware that the great Salamander could so easily be defeated by simple motion sickness.

Natsu, attempting to remain calm even at the thought of riding a train, suddenly perked up once more. "Hey, I remember this! This is right before we met Lucy!" he exclaimed, gaining the room's attention once more.

"Eh?! But that was months ago, at least! Why is this being shown?! It said we were going to see the future, not the past!" Lucy gasped, jumping to her feet in her bewilderment.

This confusion didn't even have time to start any fights or arguments as a paper airplane flew out of nowhere, stabbing Lucy in the head and actually bowling her backward onto the couch, making her legs fly out and narrowly missing kicking Sting in the head, he and Lector both shouting in shock.

Lucy lay in shocked paralysis for a moment before Lyra unconcernedly plucked the letter out of her Summoner's mussed hair and unfolded it, reading aloud, "_You can't enjoy, or even begin to __**understand**__ a story if you don't read it – or in this case, __**watch**__ it – from the very beginning._ _~Persephone._"

"Uh, ooh-kay…" Loke drawled, helping Lucy straighten herself out.

**Natsu's sickened face came next, sweat dripping down the much-paler-than-normal flesh. "Never. I'm never riding a stupid train again!" he groaned in agony, before his cheeks puffed out in his attempt to hold his stomach's contents where they were.**

** Happy, oblivious to his partner's suffering, walked toward the compartment's exit, looking up at the buildings around them. "If our information is correct, then we should find that Salamander somewhere in this town." He turned back to Natsu expectantly. "Let's go!"**

** "Just give me a second, would'ya?!" Natsu demanded, half hanging out of the train window, once again close to throwing up. A small, seemingly scribbled word for "**_**Bleeergh**_**" hung right next to the half-dead fire-eater.**

Sting couldn't help an empathetic grimace at the Fire Mage's obvious discomfort. As a Dragon Slayer, he had rather violent motion sickness as well, though luckily it didn't seem to be bothering him as much here.

Ryos, as well, knew how he felt, though in a lesser degree; for some reason, his motion sickness episodes were always less severe than Sting's; most of the time anyway.

Wendy and Gajeel, however, had no reaction, as their powers had never caused them such inconvenience before.

**Some coal was chucked into the train's furnace by an engineer, another one pulling on the horn's cord to signal that the train was leaving again.**

** Happy, who had already exited the train to look around, spun around in surprise, only to watch as Natsu's distressed face whisked past him. "Nooo! HEEEEEELP!" The Dragon Slayer wailed as the train whisked him away to parts unknown, the image growing smaller as it became farther away.**

** Happy, back on the platform, could only stand there and watch the train gain distance. "Uh-oh, there he goes," he said, totally nonplussed.**

"You don't have to act like you were expecting that, Happy!" Natsu complained, pouting at his winged friend.

"To be honest, I kinda was expecting it. This isn't the first time that's happened, you know," Happy said with a shrug.

"You could drag me off before that happens, you know!" Natsu said, sinking into the couch miserably to try and rein in his roiling stomach.

"You told me last time not to do that!" Happy shot right back.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "_I'll _drag you off next time, so just shut it and pay attention!" she snapped, bodily turning their heads back to the screen with both hands.

Not far off, Mirajane giggled at the interaction while Elfman laughed boisterously. "Lucy knows how to handle those two like a real man should!" he exclaimed, not noticing the tick mark that appeared on the blonde's head.

'_I'm not a man, damn it!_' she raged inwardly.

**A title card appeared, Fairy Tail's wing symbol in the middle and red letters spelling out the words as Happy's voice stated enthusiastically, "The Fairy Tail!"**

"I'm pretty sure we're all aware that this is about them by now," Lyon said, his expression deadpan.

**The screen panned downward, showing several of Hargeon's homes and shops as people milled about in the marketplace, soft music flooding the scene.**

** "What?!" Lucy's voice demanded, the shot switching to pan up to her face from where she had slammed both hands onto a counter top in frustration, one hand conspicuously missing a certain pink tattoo. "You mean to tell me there's only **_**one **_**magic shop in this whole town?!"**

"Oh, this is where-!" Lucy gasped quietly, hugging Plue even tighter as he looked up at her with a trembling smile, saying "pun, pun!" as he was wont to do. Lucy grinned at him, snuggling him into her chest.

"Hey, why does she let _him _get away with it?!" Natsu hissed to Happy, only for his compatriot to shrug wordlessly.

** "'Fraid so, the people round here are more fishing folk than magic folk," the shopkeeper explained, Lucy's face becoming disappointed quickly as she sighed.**

** The small shop was shown, magic tomes, a crystal ball, bottles, scrolls, crystals, and other assorted magical odds and ends were stacked on the shelves in an orderly fashion, a few staffs stuffed in the back. Behind the counter, the shopkeeper, wearing a pointed hat, was still explaining to Lucy, "I reckon most people in town don't even know how to use magic! I built this shop to sell to the Wizards who happen to be passing through!"**

** Lucy turned away from the counter in disappointment, placing her hands on her hips and sighing, "Oh, man, I came out all this way for nothing!"**

** The shopkeeper, noticing his dwindling chance of making a sale, immediately started digging around behind his counter, saying, "Now, now, don't say that, little lady, I have all the latest goods, let me show you a few." He managed to dig out what he was looking for and held up a pink tablet with a couple of circles on it, "This colors magic is really popular, all the young girls seem to like it," he turned the tablet over so he could activate it, "It lets you change the color of your clothes anytime you want!" He pressed a finger to the control panel, spinning it a bit with one finger before a magic circle erupted from the top, changing his clothes to the color of his choice. "Purple!" He cried, half-spinning dramatically as his clothes changed.**

Quite a few people face-faulted at that, trying not to laugh at the man's utter ridiculous color choice.

**"I already have one of those," Lucy said, turning toward the shop's displays, "What I really want are some powerful Gate Keys!" she said, ignoring the shopkeeper as he changed his clothes back to their original color-scheme.**

** The blonde Mage gasped as the shopkeeper pulled out his collection. "Gate Keys, huh? That's a rare request," he muttered absently, not noticing her excitement.**

** A silver key in a fancy padded box, surrounded by sparkles, appeared as Lucy gasped, "Oh, wow, it's the Little Doggy!"**

** A tiny bubble, containing the shopkeepers head, poofed into the picture, his expression awkward, "Yes, but that one's not very powerful, you know."**

** Another bubble, containing the embarrassed face of Lucy as she stated, "I know, but I really, **_**really **_**want it!"**

** She slid up to the counter, holding the padded box and still-sparkling key with a smile on her face. "So how much?"**

** "20,000 Jewel!" the shopkeeper stated before she'd even finished asked, holding up two fingers to signify the amount of money it would take.**

"Geez, I knew Gate Keys were expensive, but I didn't expect it to be that much!" Levy gasped, shocked at the outrageous sum of money. Most enchanted items were expensive, of course, but Levy could never remember a time where she had to pay _that much _to get one.

'_Then again, I can usually ask another Guild-member to enchant something for me…_' she thought, sweat-dropping with an awkward smile.

"Oh, that's not even the half of it! You wouldn't _believe _how hard it was for me to get the Keys of the Zodiac! They're priceless!" exclaimed Lucy.

**The screen made an extreme close-up of Lucy's far less excited face as she said, "I'm sorry, how much was that again?"**

** "I said 20,000 Jewel!" the shopkeeper repeated, not backing down.**

** Lucy stood in front of the counter, sweat-dropping as she stood looking down at both her wallet and her desired key.**

** Thinking quickly, she jumped up onto the counter, the background becoming full of sparkles, she lounged on it in as sexy a position as she could get, leaning on one hand and putting the other behind her head, one leg stretched outward while the other had the knee bent. "Aw, come on, how much is it really worth? Surely you can cut me a deal?" she ended her proposition with a wink, a heart floating away from her head.**

All of the male occupants in the room gaped at the screen in utter euphoria, even Gray, who was almost always oblivious to Lucy's femininity. The only boys who didn't nearly die of shock, were Natsu – who was _always _oblivious to Lucy's femininity – Happy – who had a crush on a certain white feline, not Lucy – and Sting, Ryos, and little Romeo – who were all too young to get crazed with hormones.

"Lucy, you really shouldn't tease old perverts like that! You might give them ideas!" Mirajane scolded, patting Makarov on the back from where he'd collapsed sideways in shock.

Lucy grinned, shrugging her shoulders. "What can I say, I'm just that good!" she stated, holding up a peace sign in victory.

'_HOW DARE MY LOVE RIVAL GAIN GRAY-SAMA'S ATTENTION LIKE THAT?!_' Juvia raged, fire in her eyes, only kept in place by Erza, who was absently holding the back of her dress.

'_How dare that hussy act all high and mighty like that, when there's someone so clearly superior in the looks department?!_' Sherry seethed, pissed.

**Back out in the marketplace, other shop owners were still haggling with the crowd of potential buyers, not noticing the seething Stellar Spirit Mage who was stalking across the town's bridge in a huff. "Ugh! I cannot **_**believe **_**he only knocked off a thousand Jewel! That stubborn old geezer must be blind!" she snarled under her breath.**

"Ha! Serves you right!" Sherry exclaimed aloud, making Lucy shoot forward.

"What did you say?!" she hissed, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You really shouldn't act so confident when your looks are obviously inferior to someone else's," Aquarius put in, eyes closed and nose raised in disdain as her Summoner spun right around, shocked.

"You're belittling me too?!" she gasped, arms flailing in shock.

"I don't get it; are a girl's looks really that big of a deal?" Sting whispered to Ryos, who could only shrug helplessly.

"Dad, why would her posing like that get the price lower?" asked Romeo from his father's lap, making Macao and his couch-mates, Wakaba, Nab, and Gildarts all stiffen up in horror.

"U-uh, remind me to explain it when you're older, Romeo!" Macao said hastily, sweat-dropping awkwardly as his friends edged away from the potential disaster, making Romeo raise a tiny eyebrow.

Lucy returned to her seat dejectedly, slumping over a little. "My looks aren't impressive at all," she moaned, an unending trail of tears falling from her eyes.

"On the contrary, Lucy, I think your hair rivals the stars in their entire golden splendor, and your eyes are the richest brown I've ever seen! Like twin pools of chocolate!" Loke proclaimed, arm extended in melodramatic fashion.

"Thanks, Loke!" Lucy said, smiling at him lopsidedly.

Natsu, in between them, raised an eyebrow but did nothing else, either not noticing or ignoring the twinge of _something _in his gut from the interaction.

Unseen by any of them, Mirajane saw all of this, and continued to plot her wicked schemes of romance…

**Lucy's irate face was shown from the front, tick marks floating around her head as she muttered fiercely, "That trick usually works. So much for my feminine wiles."**

"Huh, you don't know the meaning of the word!" Aquarius scoffed, flipping a few cerulean strands of hair with one hand and smirking at her Summoner's twitching face.

"I dunno what you're talkin about, Aquarius, Miss Lucy is the finest thing these bovine eyes of mine have ever seen!" Taurus exclaimed, eyes once again hearts as he gave Lucy a thumbs up, which made her smile awkwardly in thanks.

**Suddenly, the high-pitched screaming of many girls turned Lucy's attention to the center of town, where a very large gathering of females had congregated all together, crying out excitedly to someone in the middle.**

** "Are you serious, he's really here?!" a girl gasped while running past Lucy, who turned to her in confusion as another girl, neck and neck with the other one, exclaimed, "Yes, it's Salamander!"**

"WHAT?!" was the general outcry as Gray and Loke both smacked Natsu upside the head furiously.

"How can _you _of all people have that many girls running after you?!" Gray demanded, grabbing the Fire Mage in a headlock.

"It must be an illusion! There's no way women would be flocking to _you _instead of _me!_" Loke snapped, kicking Natsu in the ribs, which only set the fire-breather off. Natsu retaliated by kicking Loke away and flipping Gray over his shoulder and tackling him, screaming a war-cry as he went.

Wendy, Carla, Ryos, Sting, and the kittens Lector and Frosch all had to dive out of the way to avoid being sucked into the battle. "Don't ever let me catch you acting this ridiculous, Wendy! This is utterly juvenile, and not becoming of a young lady such as you!" Carla said, glaring at the two full-grown wizards acting like toddlers.

Wendy nodded wordlessly, though she was really working hard not to laugh at the scene before her. Sting was in hysterics, laughing and calling encouragements to the both of them. Ryos was smiling reluctantly, obviously trying to keep a professional face and failing.

There were an awkward few minutes of watching the Fire and Ice Mages beat each other to a pulp before Erza finally lost her temper and stalked up to the two of them and grabbed their heads, slamming them together before tossing them in opposite directions.

"Could the two of you go ten minutes without trying to kill each other?! Honestly, you're not children anymore! Grow up a little!" Erza snarled, grabbing Gray's arm – for his shirt was long gone who-knows-where – and dragging him back to the couch and tossing him practically on top of Juvia, who shrieked in shock at the unforeseen tackle. Erza plopped onto the couch as well, holding her head in one hand and letting out a sigh. It hadn't even been a half hour, and they were already giving her a headache; how exactly could they get through all these past events, let alone the future, without murdering each other first?!

Unaware of Erza's despair, Lucy gingerly hauled Natsu back onto the couch with the help of Virgo and Cancer, the only Spirits that could be bothered to aid the Dragon Slayer at the moment.

"You need to be more careful about who you fight around!" she scolded, taking stock of the small scratches and bruises running up and down his arms; without magic, the two Elementals had only managed minor damage to the other. She noted absently that the trio of kids and their cats had returned to their places right underneath them, but was more focused on making sure Natsu didn't pass out.

Rolling her eyes, she returned her attention to the room at large, explaining, "It isn't Natsu they're freaking out about; it's just some poser using charm magic and the reputation of the Salamander name to get all the girls."

"Oh!" rang through the room simultaneously, most of the room's occupants sweat-dropping at their mistake.

**"Salamander?" Lucy questioned, before gasping and clapping her hands together in astonishment, beaming widely. "As in the Wizard who uses Fire Magic you can't even buy in stores?! Oh, wow!"**

** She watched a swarm of girls running through the marketplace to join the crowd, saying, "He's in **_**this **_**dead-end town?"**

"Yes I am, I'm just not getting a whole following of girls for no reason," Natsu pointed out, groaning as he leaned forward slightly, holding his head.

**The screen switched to show a lethargic Natsu's back as he forced one foot in front of the other, swaying slightly as he walked. "Ugh, man," he groaned, "I wound up riding the train twice."**

** He and Happy were shown walking down a side street. "You've gotta get over that motion sickness," Happy stated sympathetically.**

Ryos raised an eyebrow while Sting smothered a snort. 'Get over motion sickness'? Did this guy's cat know the first thing about Dragon Slayer magic? Motion sickness, unfortunately, came with the deal. Every great power has a great weakness, as it were.

**"Now I'm so hungry I could eat my hand," Natsu groaned.**

** "It's too bad we don't have any money for food," added Happy, still sounding quite joyful indeed despite their rather bleak situation.**

** "Hey, Happy," started Natsu, the shot changing position to get a better look at his face while the cat walked beside him, "This Salamander guy we're looking for has gotta be Igneel, right?"**

** "Aye, it has to be, because the only Fire Dragon I've ever heard of **_**is **_**Igneel," stated Happy confidently.**

Sting and Ryos stared blankly at the screen for a moment, uncomprehending, before slowly turning to look at each other. "They're _looking _for a dragon? So that means he didn't kill Igneel?" Ryos hissed quietly, not wanting anyone to overhear; he was aware of at least one Dragon Slayer in the room that was neither him nor Sting, so he kept his voice pitched low enough so even a Slayer's enhanced senses wouldn't be able to hear him if he didn't want them to.

"What does that mean? Every Dragon Slayer is supposed to kill the dragon who taught them, right? Or else you don't exactly have the right to call yourself a 'dragon slayer' when you've never 'slayed a dragon'," Sting said, using air quotes to help him elaborate.

"Well, every Dragon Slayer is raised differently, I suppose," shot in Lector, quickly stopping the debate before it could get out of hand.

"I don't get it," complained Frosch, looking tired indeed with the conversation.

"Let's just see how this plays out," Ryos said, patting Frosch encouragingly on the head, though inwardly his thoughts were whirling. This didn't make any sense at all; dragons taught humans to kill them so that they would do as their title suggested, slay dragons and fight for humanity. It didn't make any sense for a Dragon Slayer to _not slay a dragon._

**"That's true," Natsu acquiesced.**

** The street connected to the town square, where the crowd of girls was growing more rabid. "Salamander!" "You're so dreamy!" "And so hot!"**

** Natsu and Happy, oblivious, both spun to look at each other excitedly. "Salamander?!"**

** Natsu turned and jogged toward the crowd, beaming widely. "Ha! Well speak of the devil, we're in luck today, Happy!"**

** "Aye!" Happy cried, jumping up in front of Natsu.**

Lucy smiled sadly at the image of her friend's enthusiasm. It really was too bad Igneel hadn't been here waiting for him, but she believed they'd run into him soon. Perhaps she didn't have the unwavering faith Natsu had, but she could hope for her friend at the very least.

**A dramatically flowing cape took up the screen as the fake Salamander appeared, waving a hand and giving a two-fingered salute to the woman around him, chuckling seductively, as he did so. On his right hand, two rings were conspicuously visible.**

Juvia gaped at the screen, utterly bewildered. '_Bora?!_' she thought. Indeed, it was her ex-boyfriend who stood amid a crowd of rabid girls, looking as if he'd belonged there all his life. The rain woman frowned, trying hard not to let her pain at seeing him show.

It was because of _him _that she had joined Phantom Lord and become an emotional recluse in the first place. '_What the hell is he doing here?!_' she seethed inwardly, glaring at the screen.

** "AH! Isn't he handsome!" one girl squealed as whole wave of them swarmed around him excitedly, batting their eyelashes and striking poses to try and get his attention. "He's so cool!" another girl agreed.**

Loke snorted at that. "Rank amateur is what he is. I bet he couldn't get even a single woman without that charm spell he's casting."

"Agreed," huffed Aquarius.

"Definitely not my type," added Levy, mouth pulled into an uncharacteristic frown. Jet and Droy both let out large sighs at her words, relieved that she wasn't attracted to some other punk. Gajeel just snorted, unsurprised.

"Juvia does not approve either!" Juvia added, casting a sideways glance toward Gray. He didn't notice. '_Juvia hoped Gray-sama would get protective of Juvia and agree!_' the Water Wizard moaned internally, falling into despair.

"A true gentleman would _never _need to stoop so low to get a woman!" said Hibiki, Ren and Eve nodding quickly in agreement.

"Please, it's amazing he got any women _with _the charm spell!" scoffed Evergreen.

Lucy winced, trying not to feel too embarrassed that _she _had been caught in that charm spell too.

**Lucy appeared within the mass of giggling girls, stricken, mouth gaping open as she stared at the poser Salamander like he was God's gift to humanity.**

"Aw, princess, I'm disappointed in you! To be so easily duped by such a simple spell!" Loke said in admonishment, 'tsk'ing his master's easily swayed heart.

"It's not my fault! I'd never seen a charm spell before!" Lucy snapped, flustered, her face going beet red in 2.3 seconds, gaining snickers from the boys below her.

"Yeah! And she could've been a lot worse; she's the only one who didn't kick me into a wall after I insulted the guy!" exclaimed Natsu, looping an arm around her shoulders once again with a wide grin.

"Thanks Natsu," Lucy sighed, smiling.

**Her heart rate picking up from the spell, Lucy gasped quietly. '**_**Why's my heart beating so fast?! What's gotten into me all of a sudden?**_**' she thought, small hearts in her eyes, which meant she was only pseudo-charmed.**

** "You ladies are all so sweet," Fake-Salamander said kindly, smiling at them all, before turning his head in Lucy's direction, catching side of her and smiling a seductive smile at her, a sparkle near his head.**

'_He certainly never acted that way with Juvia,_' grumbled a certain blunette, stewing in frustration.

** '**_**HE LOOKED AT ME!**_**' Lucy thought hysterically, sounding ready to pass out. She crossed her hands over her chest in an attempt to calm down, though from the stricken look on her face it really wasn't helping. Hearts floated around her in the background as the spell really took effect. '**_**Is it cause he's a famous Wizard?! Is that why my heart's throbbing out of control?!**_**' The heart in her eye spiraled into her pupil, making her a full-blown fangirl when it reached the center.**

** She inched forward through the crowd hypnotically, absolutely mesmerized. '**_**Could it be? Am I in love?! Is he **__**the ONE?!**_**'**

"Woooooooow," Levy stated slowly, shaking her head at her friend's bewitched behavior.

"It's not my fault!" Lucy stated again, blushing an even darker shade of red than before.

"Oh, I know, it's just…. woooooooow," Levy repeated, lifting a hand to rub at her eyes.

While most everyone chuckled at the friends' interaction, Natsu felt his brow furrow in thought, leaning back in the couch. He'd seen Lucy go on dates with guys before, but, while she might talk about them sometimes and act girly around them, she'd never looked so completely enamored with any of them before.

Granted, that could just be the spell talking, but whatever.

Natsu's mouth thinned and he stared hard at the screen, unsure whether to be angry at the guy for tricking Lucy, or grateful that he himself had stepped in and broken it when he did. There was no telling what that guy would have done with Lucy or those other girls if he hadn't accidentally ended up walking in right then.

"**Igneel! Igneel! Igneel it's me!" Natsu cried as he finally got around a large group of the girls and burst into the middle of the gathering, stopping short when he realized the man wasn't who he was looking for. The Fake-Salamander looked up in surprise, but otherwise didn't react.**

** However, Lucy's reaction was more noticeable; the hearts in her eyes shattered apart, making her gasp as the spell broke, the flush tinging her cheeks disappearing as well. A loud glass-shattering sound effect accompanied this reaction.**

While most of the room sighed in relief that Lucy was no longer an obsessed fangirl – although she'd only been one for, like, four seconds – Mirajane gasped softly, halting in her diabolical schemes in favor of staring blankly at the screen for a moment, stunned.

Four years ago, when those love charms were still legal, Mira had spent a few days researching their effects, hoping to find a way to keep herself and Lisanna immune just in case anyone got any funny ideas.

While she didn't remember much of the details, one thing she'd found out had always stuck out to her; a love charm couldn't be broken by anyone other than the caster, a victim who was aware of the charm's existence, or…

Mira felt a smug grin appear on her face at the last thought. '_A love charm can also be broken if you see your soul mate for the first time while under the spell's effects,_' she thought, her expression turning absolutely devious.

She locked eyes with Master Makarov, who was also aware of this particular fact, and shared a rather evil look with the tiny man. Oh, this was _not _going to end well for our duo…

**Natsu slumped over halfway, looking not at all impressed with what he had found. "Who the heck are you?" he asked flatly, shocking Fake-Salamander.**

** "Who am I?!" he gasped, striking a ridiculous pose as if he couldn't understand how he'd **_**not **_**heard about him before. Regaining his composure, he went back to his calm, cool arm wave-thing, saying, "I'm Salamander! Surely you've heard of me before?" Another sparkle effect appeared next to his head.**

** "HEY! Wait a minute!" he cried when Natsu ignored him and started walking away with Happy following, an air of disappointment hanging over him.**

** Enraged at the slight to their idol, two girls chased after him and kicked him down, two more joining in screaming, "JERK!" "How rude!" "Salamander's a great Wizard! You better apologize to him or we'll rip you to shreds!"**

"Pitiful," Gray sighed, shaking his head in mock-pity for his rival. Erza huffed in agreement.

**"What is it with you girls?!" Natsu gasped, half-strangled under the weight of four angry females.**

** The rest of the crowd of women glared at the offender, tick marks floating above their heads. Fake-Salamander waved to them, drawing their attention back to him, "Now, now, that's enough my lovelies, let him go, I'm sure the poor boy didn't mean anything malicious by it!" Immediately the girls went back to their former state of squealing in delight, hearts dancing around them as they cheered.**

** Lucy watched this in the foreground, unimpressed with the foul Wizard's trick now that she realized what was happening. She glared at him, her eyes narrowing in disgust at both his and his helpless fan-club's behavior.**

"Whoa, Lucy no likey!" Gray exclaimed, laughing.

"Of course, no woman likes to be taken advantage of like that! What a despicable human being!" Erza said, gauntleted arms crossed over her armored chest, scowling in disapproval, making Gray edge away from her.

'_Oh, why can't __**Juvia**__ make Gray-sama laugh like that?!_' Juvia thought, hearts in her eyes as she gazed at her beloved's amused face. Gritting her teeth, she turned her freshly enraged attention toward where Lucy was sitting. '_My Love Rival must be done away with!_'

**Fake-Salamander signed a paper with a flick of a pen, holding the finished product out to a still unimpressed Natsu. "Here's my autograph, kid. Now you can brag to all your friends," he assured him.**

"Oh my god, this is just painful! A real man would never act so horrendously!" Elfman stated, looking mortified. Mirajane patted his arm to calm him down, though she agreed with his assessment.

**"No thanks," Natsu said flatly once more, which, of course, only enraged the army of fangirls once more. Their eyes glowing with hate, they lunged at him, sending him headfirst into a pile of trash on the side of the road.**

** "Guess it wasn't him after all," Happy said quietly.**

"Thanks, captain obvious!" Lucy said, rolling her eyes.

**"Definitely not him," Natsu groaned.**

** "Well, I'm afraid I must be going, ladies. I have business to attend to," Fake-Salamander said, stunning the crowd. "You're leaving already?!" they cried in distress.**

** Waving his ring hand once again (how many times had he done this, now?!) he snapped his fingers to create a magic circle. "Time for the red carpet," he said with a smirk. A circle of purple flames appeared at his feet, which then proceeded to lift him into the air above his crowd (army) of fangirls. "I'm having a soirée on my yacht tonight! And you're all invited!" he cried before disappearing in a flash, leaving the girls squealing with excitement.**

** Natsu, having managed to dig himself out of the trash, watched with Happy as the poser left. "Who the heck was that guy?" he asked quietly.**

** "I dunno, but he was a real creep," said Lucy's voice, making Natsu and Happy look up in surprise to see the blonde Celestial Mage standing nearby, lifting a hand with a kind smile. "Thank you for your help!" she said cheerily, making Natsu stare blankly at her.**

"Ah, the fateful first meeting! Hard to believe that jerk actually gave us a reason to meet!" Lucy said, beaming at the moment she had met her best friend.

"Not really. Natsu's always saving someone from some inexplicable disaster," said Cana from just behind her, making Lucy look back at her in shock. She started in surprise when she saw a mug of ale in the brunette's hand.

"Where'd you find beer?!" she demanded quietly, not wishing to draw attention.

Cana raised an eyebrow at her before lifting one hand and pointing over her shoulder toward a door on the far wall that definitely hadn't been there earlier. "I got it from the kitchen," she said blandly.

"You could've said something…" Lucy muttered, sweat-dropping.

Cana shrugged. "If I had, Natsu would've raided it first chance he got."

"Good point," Lucy sighed, looking over at Natsu, who was still watching the screen in amusement.

**Lively music accompanied a shot of a restaurant from the outside, Lucy's voice continuing their introduction. "My name's Lucy, it's nice to meet you!"**

** "Aye!" said Happy in agreement.**

** Natsu… well, Natsu was busy stuffing his face with everything within reach, scarfing down pasta, juice, and an assortment of meat, fish and vegetables all at once.**

This, of course, made everyone, even the ones who were well aware of Natsu's eating habits, grimace in distaste.

"You really need to learn proper table manners," muttered Erza, shaking her head.

**Lucy, a bit put off by Natsu's ability to eat so much and not choke to death, laughed awkwardly. "Eh, Natsu and Happy, was it?" she asked for confirmation of their names.**

** "Uh-huh, you're so nice!" Natsu managed to mumble around a mouthful of food.**

** "Thanks, you can slow down, we're not in a hurry… and food is kinda flying everywhere," Lucy said, holding her hands up in a half-hearted attempt to make him slow down as food debris – discarded mollusk shells, fish skeletons, meat bones, sauce – flew in every direction, a bit of sauce even landing on Lucy's forehead. '**_**There goes the money I saved at that Old Geezer's shop,**_**' she thought with a frustrated sigh.**

** Taking a breath, Lucy relaxed as the camera showed the booth from an upward angle, focusing on the blonde while Natsu and Happy continued to dig in. "Evidently, that Salamander guy was using magic; a charm spell, to hypnotize the ladies in town into thinking they were in love with him!"**

** An image of Fake-Salamander's ring hand was shown, the charm spell obviously the one on the pointer finger with the heart on it. "Charm spells have the power to attract people to you against their own will, but they've been banned for years! Nobody even sells them anymore!" An angry Lucy appeared in front of the ring's image, stating, "He must've gone through a lot of trouble to get his hands on it. What a creep!"**

** Returning to normal, Lucy smiled at the duo across from her as they continued eating as usual. "I totally fell victim to his spell, but I snapped out of it thanks to you barging in when you did! I really can't thank you enough!"**

** "No problem!" Natsu said, actually pausing to acknowledge her before continuing to stuff his face.**

** Lucy, seeming to have grown used to his table manners – or lack thereof – continued almost immediately, pointing at herself happily, "I may not look like it, but I'm a Wizard too!"**

** "Is that so?" Natsu asked, pausing once again, only to continue stuffing his face a moment later.**

Gray raised an eyebrow. "Huh. He usually doesn't stop even when he knows we're talking to him; he just keeps eating…" he said slowly.

Erza rolled her eyes. "This is his first time meeting someone; no matter how nonexistent they might be, he still has some form of manners. Igneel taught him to be respectful to a lady when he first meets her," she said importantly, which Gray nodded to, already used to Erza knowing odd facts about the two of them that she'd learnt over the years.

**"Yeah, but I haven't joined a Guild yet or anything," Lucy said, scratching a cheek self-consciously. Realizing what she just said, she looked back at Natsu and said, "Oh, I should probably explain, huh?"**

** An image of a standard Guild hall appeared, Wizards speaking to each other over countertops about some business of another. "See, Guilds are these organizations where Wizards come together to share information and find work and things like that," Lucy explained, before the image pulled back until it appeared Lucy was holding it. "Unfortunately you aren't considered a full-fledged Wizards until you become a member of a Guild."**

"Uh, Lucy, why are you explaining all of this? Natsu's a Wizard too," Mirajane asked, feeling a bit nonplussed by the load of information she already knew.

Lucy sweat-dropped. "I kinda didn't realize Natsu was a Wizard until later," she admitted, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.

"I'll admit, he doesn't really look like one right now," Sting said, causing the room to burst out in laughter as Natsu glared at him.

"Who says I'm not a Wizard?! And by the way, who the heck are _you,_ shorty?!" he demanded, punching the kid on the head for the insult, causing a squeak of protest from both Sting and Lector at once.

"Natsu! Leave him alone!" Lucy scolded, grabbing his ear and yanking it harshly, though the earlier outburst did make most of the room's attention focus on the suddenly-noticed Sting, Ryos and Wendy. And their cats. (Mustn't forget the cats. A Dragon Slayer is nothing without his/her cat.)

Since most of the room in general still didn't know who the kids were, they got to their feet for introductions.

Sting grinned widely at the audience. Lector had climbed onto his shoulder after Natsu's hit, leaving his arms free, so he used one hand to point to himself. "Name's Sting Eucliffe," he said easily, before pointing sideways at his kitten, "And this is Lector."

"Ryos Cheney, and this is Frosch," Ryos said from the side, holding Frosch to his chest as he usually did.

"U-um… Wendy Marvel of Cait Shelter. And this is Carla," she said, motioning to the stern looking feline beside her.

A general murmur of "hello"s erupted, dying down after a minute as the trio (should I say double-trio, because there's a trio of humans and a trio of cats?!) returned to their places on the floor, Sting still grinning widely and Ryos sighing in relief now that the spotlight was off them once again.

**"But there are tons of them all over the world! I heard it's really tough to get into the more popular ones, and the Guild I want to join is the most popular one there is!" Lucy exclaimed rapidly, absolutely ecstatic as she continued to rant, unaware that Natsu and Happy had both stopped eating to look at each other in bewilderment, "Huh, yeah! They're the greatest and they're always featured in Sorcerer Weekly! Oh, if I could actually convince them to let me in, I think I'd just about DIE!"**

Giggling and chuckles echoed throughout the room at Lucy's enthusiasm, making her flush a bright red.

"Nice to know you were looking forward to joining!" Levy laughed to the side.

**"Yeah?" Natsu said disinterestedly, obviously getting bored with this conversation.**

** Lucy, oblivious to his lack of attention, waved a hand absently, "Oh, I'm sorry, all this wizarding talk must sound like a bunch of gibberish to you, huh?" She put one hand on top of the other, leaning her head on top of them, "But I'm telling you, I'm definitely gonna join that Guild someday, and then I'm going to take all kinds of exciting jobs and make tons of money!"**

"You know, if you'd bothered to say 'Fairy Tail' instead 'that Guild', he would've taken you directly to Master Makarov to join, right?" asked Mirajane, smiling sweetly as Lucy blushed so red she looked ready to pass out.

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered, fidgeting.

**"Oh, yeah?" Natsu said, evidently impressed with her determination.**

** "You talk a lot," Happy said plainly.**

Even more giggling spread at that, making a tick mark appear on Lucy's head as she glared at Happy. "It's true!" he cried in defense, hiding behind Virgo.

**"Oh man, I almost forgot! You guys came here to try and find somebody, didn't you?" Lucy asked, looking concerned.**

** "We're looking for Igneel!" Happy exclaimed, raising a paw.**

** Natsu, after taking a bite out of a pizza, said, "We heard a rumor that a Salamander was going to be coming through this town so we came here to see him. Turns out it was somebody else." His tone conveyed his disappointment. He popped the rest of the pizza into his mouth.**

** "Yeah, that guy didn't look like a Salamander at all," Happy said.**

** Natsu crossed his arms. "No kidding! I bet that poser can't even breathe fire like a real dragon!"**

** Lucy sweat-dropped, the only one out of the loop on this conversation. "I don't get it, your friend Igneel looks like a dragon?" she asked, confused.**

** Natsu and Happy looked back at her. "No, you got it all wrong. He doesn't **_**look like **_**a dragon, he **_**is **_**one."**

** A dramatic picture of a traditional, fire-breathing, four-legged dragon appeared on screen, growling. A confused Lucy appeared in front of it with a "Huh?" Happy appeared next, raising a paw. "Aye! Igneel is a real, live, Fire Dragon!" An even more startled Lucy let out a shriek of astonishment.**

"Nice reaction!" Natsu said, snickering despite himself.

"Oh, shut up!" Lucy huffed, pouting cutely.

**Lucy was shown leaning away from Natsu, startled. "**_**Even in this magnificent world of magic, dragons are considered extraordinary, mystical creatures,**_**" the narrator explained helpfully. **_**"They're rarely seen by the human eye."**_

"Oh, the Old Guy! I thought he was gone by now!" Natsu exclaimed, making Lucy sigh at his simplicity.

**"Why would a Fire Dragon show up in the middle of town?!" Lucy demanded, flustered.**

** Natsu and Happy both froze dramatically, shocked into silence and unable to find an answer.**

** "It's totally ridiculous!" Lucy asserted, getting more frazzled by the second by her clueless new acquaintances.**

** After she regained her composure, she placed some money for the food on the table. "Well, I should get going," she said. She got to her feet beside the table, slinging her purse onto her shoulder as she headed toward the door, "Enjoy the rest of your lunch, and maybe I'll see you around."**

** A waitress at the front of the restaurant smiled at the blonde as she passed and started, "Thank you ma'am. Please come again- AH!"**

** Confused, Lucy turned around to see what had startled her, only to find Natsu and Happy kneeling on the floor like a pair of groveling worshippers. "Thank you for the food!" Natsu cried, Happy echoing the "Thank you!"**

** "Cut it out! You're embarrassing me!" Lucy cried, mortified at them for doing this in a public place.**

Gray guffawed loudly, seeming not to notice his now sudden lack of pants and Juvia's love-struck expression as he did. "Ah, that never gets old!" the Ice Mage sighed, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye.

"Gray, your clothes," Cana said from the other side of the room.

"Damn it, not again!" Gray exclaimed, throwing his hands up in shock, much to everyone's amusement.

**Lucy waved at the two with both hands, attempting to convey how much they shouldn't be doing what they were doing. Both Dragon Slayer and cat looked up as she spoke, "Look, it's cool, you guys helped me out earlier, so let's just call it even!"**

** Natsu and Happy exchanged glances. "I feel bad though cause we weren't even trying to help her," Natsu said. "Aye," agreed Happy, not noticing Lucy face-palming in the background, "We owe her something."**

** A light bulb went off, and Natsu excitedly bumped a fist into his other hand. "Oh, I know!" He held up the Fake-Salamander's autograph, grinning at her. "Here, this is for you!" he exclaimed.**

** "NO WAY!" Lucy asserted furiously.**

The entire room filled with laughter as most everyone was amused at the scene. Quite a few of Fairy Tail's members were honestly shocked that one of the most well-known duos in the Guild had met in such an odd way, while some others were more shocked that Natsu would offer a girl something she obviously had no interest in.

**Several purple birds flew through the sky over the sea, and the large, rather extravagant boat moving slowly toward the city.**

** The image changed to Lucy holding an issue of Sorcerer Weekly. "**_**This is the wizarding magazine, Sorcerer Weekly,**_**" the narrator threw in.**

Several guys wolf-whistled appreciatively at the picture of a lovely female Wizard on the front of the issue, Taurus unsurprisingly one of them (though he, uh….. wolf-mooed? Would that be the term?).

**"Oh, my, looks like the Fairy Tail Guild's out there causing trouble again!" Lucy said, smiling. She was shown from the side, sitting on a park bench near a fountain. "Demon Bandit Clan wiped out but seven homes destroyed?!" she giggled, laying back on the bench and kicking her legs in the air excitedly, "Talk about going overboard!"**

Master Makarov cast a dark look toward Natsu, who didn't seem entirely concerned. "I'm not the first to go overboard on a mission, Gramps," he said innocently, which only made the tick mark on Makarov's head grow larger.

**"Oh! The centerfold's Mirajane! She's so pretty!" Lucy said, admiring the older girl's photos.**

"Why thank you, Lucy!" Mira said, beaming at the blonde.

"You're welcome," Lucy said, feeling a bit embarrassed. How often would her personal thoughts and opinions come up for this? It was always obvious what she thought of Natsu's antics, but would this show her personal feelings about everyone in Fairy Tail? While she didn't exactly _hate _anybody, there were a few people she… disliked. '_This could be a problem…_' she thought, sinking into the couch.

**Flipping through the pages, Lucy mused, "I wish I knew how to get to be a member! Do you have to apply, or maybe interview with them? I dunno."**

** She sat up, slapping the magazine shut. "But I am **_**so **_**gonna join Fairy Tail!" she stated, grinning to herself in utter bliss at the thought. "They're totally the coolest Guild **_**ever!**_**"**

"I feel a little insulted by now. How many times exactly has she complimented Fairy Tail now?" asked Lyon, more than a little irritated.

"Now, now, it's no big deal. You brag about Lamia Scale to any Wizards you meet, so it's only natural that other Guild members do the same," Jura Neekis said calmly, remaining unruffled in the face of their rival Guild receiving so much praise in less than ten minutes.

**"What was that? You want to join Fairy Tail?" Fake-Salamander's voice said, interrupting Lucy's moment of euphoria.**

** The blonde spun around, freezing in shock at the sight of the poser who was – for some reason – hiding in a bush beside the bench she was on. "Salamander!" she gasped.**

** "I've been looking all over for you!" he said with a sparkle, "I wanted to personally invite you to the party on my yacht tonight!"**

"Is this guy for real?" Levy asked, completely deadpan.

**"You're charm spell won't work on me!" Lucy snapped, pointing at the poser dramatically, "That magic's weakness is awareness!"**

'_And true love!_' Mirajane thought with an inward squeal of delight, still absolutely giddy now that she knew it was meant to be.

**"It doesn't work on people if they know you're using it!" Lucy said, still pointing even though the angle had switched to show both her and the fake staring at each other.**

** "Just as I thought. I guessed you were a Wizard the moment I laid eyes on you. No matter; the invitation still stands," Fake-Salamander said.**

"Sorry bub, but flattery will get you nowhere with me!" Lucy said, crossing her arms. Natsu, who was already aware that flattery _could _work so long as she liked the guy who was talking to her, would've pointed this out if Loke hadn't jabbed him warningly in the ribs, shaking his head rapidly in warning to prevent a new fight from breaking out.

**Turning away in disinterest, Lucy crossed her arms and closed her eyes in a haughty way. "Well you can forget it! I wouldn't be caught dead at a party being thrown by a creep like you!"**

** The word 'creep' came out and stabbed the poser in the side, making him look wounded. "A creep? Why would you call me that?" he asked pitifully.**

"Oh, I don't know; because you're using magic to seduce women against their will?!" snapped Ishiya, Eve, Ren and Hibiki all nodding furiously in agreement.

**Lucy turned back to glare at him, unmoved by his hurt tone. "Your spell. Using it to make yourself popular."**

** Fake-Salamander quickly cut in, "Don't be mad my dear; it's all in good fun!" He winked for emphasis, "I just wanted to feel like a celebrity at my own party, can you blame me?"**

** Already walking away, Lucy, held out both arms in a shrug, eyes closed and sighing, "This just proves that even famous Wizards can be big idiots!"**

"Natsu can prove that too," Gray threw in, and chuckles once again filled the room.

"Wow, they really have it out for this guy," Ryos said, sharing a look with Sting before looking up to see a miserable Natsu crying melodramatically above them on the couch.

"Come on you guys, Erza won't let me kill you anymore! Stop taking the cheap shot!" Natsu groaned, earning a sympathetic pat from his partners.

**Noticing her imminent departure, F-S (Fake-Salamander) quickly turned, switching tactics. "You wish to join the Fairy Tail Guild, right?"**

"Oho, that poser did _not _just say that!" snarled Gray, once more mysteriously missing the shirt he had put back on a while ago.

"Relax Gray; if I know anything about the two of you, it's that Natsu will stand for his insolence even less than you will," Erza said calmly, eyes sparking at the insult she felt at such slime claiming to be from her Guild.

The rest of the room filled with mutinous mutterings, dark glares fixing on the image of the fake who so casually stated be was a part of their family when he probably didn't know the meaning of the word.

**Lucy stiffened in shock, mouth opening wide.**

** F-S posed once more. "Have you ever heard about Salamander? One of Fairy Tail's Wizards?" he asked, sparkling once more.**

"Seriously, what's with the sparkles? He keeps doing that!" Sting hissed, only for Ryos and Wendy to both shrug, just as clueless, and for Lector and Frosch just to stare blankly at him.

**Lucy, looking over her shoulder in absolute horror, said, "Well, yeah!" Turning around, she pointed at him once more. "You're telling me **_**you're **_**him?! You're **_**that **_**Salamander?!" she gasped in disbelief.**

"Lucy, dear, _anyone _can _claim _to be a famous Wizard, but that doesn't mean that they actually _are_ that Wizard," Mirajane explained, smiling at Lucy's frustrated sigh.

"Yeah, I know that _now. _But the whole town was saying he was Salamander, so… I went with it," Lucy said with a shrug.

**"That's correct," F-S said with a smirk, "And if you wanna join I can probably put in a good word for you."**

** Lucy gaped in equal parts amazement and glee, gasping. Hearts overtaking her eyes for a whole new reason, she sidled up to him, hands clasped in front of her chest excitedly. "I would love to go to your party tonight!" she squealed.**

Almost the whole room face-palmed at that.

**F-S, edging away a bit at her unexpected enthusiasm, smiled blandly. "Wow. That was even easier than I thought it was going to be."**

** Lucy, eyes sparkling, looked up at him. "So, you really think you can get me into Fairy Tail? No kidding?"**

** "I don't see why not. But you can't say anything about the charm spell!" F-S added quickly.**

** Lucy lifted an arm in a hazy, dream-like salute. "I won't say a word!" she assured him.**

** He spun away quickly with a flick of his cape. "Good. Then I'll see you at the party tonight!" he said, snapping his fingers for the same spell from earlier to whisk him away on a column of violet flames.**

** "You got it Mister Salamander, sir!" Lucy called after him. She remained standing where he'd left her, eyes still hearts as she beamed after his departure. After a moment, she returned to her senses, salute becoming a fist and eyes returning to normal as she growled, "He got me, I was pseudo-charmed!"**

** Calming down, she closed her eyes momentarily. "But," she said, before leaping into the air with a cheer. "Hurray! He's gonna get me into Fairy Tail! I just gotta keep my mouth shut and try to be nice to that sleazebag until then!" she giggled happily.**

** The night sky abruptly debuted on screen once again, the moon already high above the earth.**

** The shot panned down to show Natsu and Happy standing on an overlook above Hargeon. "Hehe, that was quite a meal, eh Happy?" the real Salamander said with a grin, leaning against the railing behind him while his cat sat on it beside him.**

** "Aye," Happy said contentedly in agreement.**

** From their perch, Happy had a clear view of the harbor. "Hey look!" Happy exclaimed. The angle showed a view of the two friends and the far off yacht, a small yellow arrow pointing to the boat to make it more visible. "Do you think that's the boat where that Salamander guy is having that party?"**

** Natsu abruptly leaned over, one hand over his mouth. "Uh, I'm gonna hurl," he groaned.**

While most the room chuckled at expected response, Sting and Ryos both grimaced in near perfect unison. "I _really _hope they stop pointing out the motion sickness thing," Sting said, barely resisting the urge to gag.

**"Ah, come on, it's not like we're going aboard or anything!" Happy said, waving a placating paw to calm him down.**

** "Oh my gosh!" a girl's voice exclaimed, gaining the duo's attention as a trio of young women all stood nearby, looking out at the boat, "That's Salamander's yacht, isn't it?!" "I wish I coulda gotten to his party!" "Who's Salamander?" "Whoa, you've never heard of him?! He's a super-famous Wizard who's in town right now!"**

** The shot showed Happy and Natsu watching the girls, a frown on both their faces as the girls continued to rant, "Yeah, and he's a member of Fairy Tail!"**

** Natsu stiffened up at that. There was a close-up of his eyes becoming a glare. "Fairy Tail?" he growled.**

All of the Guild members smirked, knowing exactly what was coming now. Out of everyone in the Guild, there were five members you especially did not want to either insult or downgrade Fairy Tail in front of: Master Makarov, Laxus Dreyar, Erza Scarlet, Gildarts Clive, and Natsu Dragneel.

Sting, Ryos and Wendy all gasped at the menacing look in the young man's eyes, which had always been either clueless or friendly since they'd gotten here. Carla pursed her lips. She knew full well that a fully grown Dragon Slayer was an incredibly dangerous thing, but she'd never really seen one in action before, simply doing her best to care for Wendy and keeping her from becoming a feral bully like most orphans who knew magic. She could only hope that this Natsu would keep it under control and not 'go overboard' as they said.

**Turning back to look at the boat, Natsu's previously serious attitude was ruined when he slumped over again, trying not to hurl at just the thought of being on a boat. "Oh no!"**

** Regaining his composure, he muttered, "So he's in Fairy Tail, is he?" Natsu said, shown crouched next to the rails glaring after the boat.**

** Out on the aforementioned-many-times yacht (it looked more like a ship up close) many pretty young women were chattering with each other excitedly, drinking wine and eating hors-d'oeuvres out on the deck.**

** "Your name's Lucy, right?" F-S asked charmingly, "That's a lovely name."**

** "Yeah, thanks!" Lucy said, trying not to sound exasperated. Or creeped out. Whichever.**

** She and the poser were seated in what appeared to be his personal quarters, he still wearing his usual attire and she wearing a red dress with a plunging neck line.**

"It's a lovely dress, Lucy, I just wouldn't wear it around someone I didn't like!" Mirajane said, making Lucy smile awkwardly.

** After pouring them both a cup of wine, he smiled winningly. "I'd like to toast your beauty," he said, raising his hand and snapping his fingers once again. Several drops of the liquid levitated out of the glass. "Now, open up wide, Lucy. Savor the taste of each flavorful drop as it enters your mouth."**

Levy leaned as far back into the couch as she could, feeling a chill go down her spine. "Ugh, gross! Could you be anymore freakish?!" she gasped, shuddering in distaste.

Erza scowled and Mirajane frowned. Bisca, Cana, and few other girls throughout the room all gagged exaggeratedly in disgust.

**Lucy's distressed face took up the screen. "CREEPY!" she wailed.**

** She quickly straightened up, opening her mouth for the floating liquid to enter, her face set determinedly. '**_**I'm strong, I can get through this!**_**' she thought, closing her eyes.**

** However, at the last second, she seemed to realize what was really happening. Batting the wine away and getting to her feet, she glared at the poser angrily. "What do you think you're doing?"**

** The screen split in two, showing both Lucy's angry face and F-S's shocked look. "I know what you're up to, you're trying to use sleep magic!" Lucy snapped.**

** F-S smirked, caught red handed. He lifted a hand to cradle his chin in a mock innocent expression. "Huh, very impressive my dear."**

** The angle changed, showing the two glaring at each other across the room. "Look, I don't wanna give you the wrong idea. Yes, I wanna join the Fairy Tail Guild, but I'm not gonna date you to make that happen."**

"Lucy, it should be fairly obvious at this point that there is foul play afoot here. You should've realized that by now," Loke admonished.

"Yeah, even I can tell this is fishy, and I don't understand chicks at all!" said Sting.

Lucy sighed. "What, I can't have an off day every once in a while? I'd never met a Fairy Tail Wizard before, so I didn't know what the members were like. I thought this was some sort of initiation test or something," she explained, waving a hand absently.

**F-S spun around with a chuckle. "You're quite a handful, aren't you?"**

** The curtains at the front of the room were drawn back and sinister music began as several men (F-S's pathetic excuse for a crew. Oh well. It's not One Piece) entered chuckling evilly, the women from the deck passed out and either chucked over their shoulders or held casually in one arm.**

"How dare they treat a woman like that!" gasped Loke, offended on behalf of himself and true womanizers everywhere, "You can't just treat a girl like she's a sack of garbage! You gotta be gentle with her!"

As he said this, he somehow managed to get around Natsu and slip Lucy into his lap, cradling her in his arms as he had on several occasions now.

Lucy yelped, shoving herself off of Loke and accidentally landing in Natsu's lap, who squeaked in surprise at her sudden appearance. Blushing furiously at the amused laughter from all around the room, Lucy managed to scramble off of her pink-haired partner and landed next to Virgo, who helped her sit up properly now that she wasn't being manhandled.

"Princess, are you alright?" asked the Maiden, receiving a flustered nod from her Summoner in response.

Loke pouted at her escape, but simply shrugged it off.

Mirajane giggled quietly, still plotting to herself.

**Lucy gasped at the sight before her, backing away a step. "What's going on here?" she asked uncertainly. **

** F-S smirked cruelly. "Welcome aboard my ship. And you'd be wise to behave yourself until we make it Bosco," his expression turned cold. "Don't make me angry," he warned darkly.**

** "We're going to Bosco?!" Lucy demanded, spinning back to glare at the captain.**

"Lucy! Don't take your eyes off the bigger threat! Keep a look-out on the crew!" Erza scolded.

"Thanks for the info, Erza," said Lucy, frustrated with her past self's actions.

**"You said you'd get me into Fairy Tail!"**

"I know, I know, I'm an idiot," Lucy cut in before anyone could comment on her seemingly unending obliviousness.

**"Forget it, I just said that so I could lure you here and make you one of our slaves!" the Captain said smugly, completely unruffled by Lucy's question.**

"They were going to make you slaves?!" Mira gasped, mortified. She knew that the world had horrible people in it, but she never liked thinking about what they could do to her or other women who were tricked.

"How truly unmanly of them!" Elfman stated, scooting a bit closer to his older sister protectively.

Erza glared at the screen, her hands tightening into fists. These bastards were just like the ones who had grabbed her from her home village, weren't they? Now she wished _she'd _been the one to run into these guys instead of Natsu. She would've slaughtered the lot of them, prison be damned.

**"How could you?!" Lucy gasped, turning back to the crew warily. "You're gonna kidnap all these girls?!"**

** A few of the crewmen laughed cruelly. "That's out Salamander, alright!" "We got a big haul this time!"**

** Lucy grit her teeth, facing Captain Salamander Poser once more. "Why, you!" she spat, pulling out her ring of Celestial Gate Keys readily.**

** The Captain noticed this and immediately snapped his fingers, a magic circle appearing before a whip of purple flames shot out and snapped the key-ring out of her hands, making her gasp in pain.**

Natsu whipped his head around immediately, grabbing Lucy's right hand and holding it up for him to see. "That guy hurt you?! Now I wish I'd punched him extra hard!" he exclaimed, examining her petite hand for any lingering scars or injuries.

Lucy, surprised, let him look her over for a second before pulling her hand back. "It's fine, Natsu, it barely even grazed me. Heck, it wasn't even bleeding!" she reassured him, then smiled widely. "But thanks for being so concerned!"

Natsu nodded importantly, glad she was alright.

Happy watched this without batting an eye, suddenly wishing he had a camera.

**The keys flew into the air, and the Captain caught them easily. "These are Gate Keys," he observed easily, "So you're a Celestial Wizard."**

** Lucy stood cradling her hand, surrounded by pirates on all sides as the Captain examined her keys. "Only the Wizard who is contracted can use this magic, so these are absolutely useless to me. Whoops!" He tossed the key ring out the window casually, the ring flying out a fair way before splashing into the ocean.**

** Lucy watched them go, giving a horrified gasp. Sad music filled the air as the situation finally sunk in – she was surrounded by enemies and had lost her keys – and she started trembling slightly, trying to think of a way out as the pirates laughed maliciously around her. The other girls were all still unconscious, unaware of what was happening and unable to help or resist.**

** She glared at them, eyes filling with frustrated tears. "You used magic to take advantage of others!" she gasped, the tears quickly falling down her face, "You're the worst Wizard alive!"**

Makarov,Mira, Levy, Erza, Gildarts, and quite a few others all nodded at her conclusion, disgusted by this man's actions. Perhaps he wasn't _the worst,_ but he was certainly one of the most despicable.

Natsu frowned, gritting his teeth angrily. How dare that jerk make Lucy cry?! He didn't know her very well there, but he had still liked her, and he hated seeing girl's cry.

Loke and Gray were also silently fuming, Gray crossing his arms over his bare chest and Loke with a glare fixed on his face, though it was slightly hidden by his shades.

**The boat was shown from an upward angle high in the sky, though it quickly grew closer as Natsu dropped from Happy's hold and violently crashed through the ceiling right behind the Captain, startling all present as Lucy, who had been grabbed from behind by several pirates, gasped in shock at seeing who exactly it was that had come to her rescue.**

** The dust cleared in a dramatic **_**fwoosh! **_**and Natsu became visible, crouched with one hand on the ground, glaring at the pirates with an uncharacteristic angry expression.**

** Lucy, recognizing him, quickly swiped her tears away. "Hey! I know you!" exclaimed in surprise, smiling when she realized she was about to be saved.**

** This, of course, was all ruined when the boat rocked on a wave, and Natsu was leaned over, resisting the urge to vomit everywhere. "I knew this was a bad idea," he barely managed to say.**

** Lucy, stiff with shock, snapped, "You are so **_**lame!**_**"**

Everyone in Fairy Tail let out unsurprised sighs of exasperation. Carla rolled her eyes.

**Happy, floating above the group in the hole in the ceiling, said, "Hey, what are you doing here, Lucy?"**

** "Oh, Happy!" the blonde exclaimed upon noticing the hovering cat. She stood over Natsu's collapsed form, one fist raised. "This jerk tricked me! He said he was gonna get me into Fairy Tail!"**

** The Captain and his men, meanwhile, were shocked silent, the word for '**_**dumbfounded**_**' floating above their heads.**

** "Hold up, since when do you have wings?!" Lucy asked, just noticing the feathery appendages that allowed the blue cat flight.**

"And that's the only strange thing you notice about all this?" asked Levy, sweat-dropping.

Lucy shrugged. "I kinda had more important things to worry about at that point."

**"I'll explain that later, OK?" said Happy.**

** The Captain, returning to normal, gasped as the tiny cat wrapped his tail around Lucy's waist, calling "Hang on!" before taking off with her, lifting her into the air despite her surprised shriek, her dress luckily flapping in the wind and not showing her underwear.**

'_Thank God for that,_' Lucy thought, sweat-dropping in relief.

**Poser Captain spun toward his subordinates, ordering, "After them! We can't let them report this to the Magic Council!"**

** High above, Lucy gasped, "Wait, what about Natsu?!" Happy explained, "I can't carry two people!"**

** Captain waved a hand, activating a magic circle. "**_**Prominence Whip!**_**" At least a dozen whips of purple fire shot out, chasing after the two escapees.**

** Happy deftly avoided them, maneuvering through the air quickly as Lucy shrieked at the close proximity of the flames. With unbelievable speed, Happy managed to dodge around a whole group them converging on the two of them at once, causing the streams to collide and make a small explosion like a firework.**

** "That cat's quicker than he looks," F-S observed, impressed.**

** "Hey guys," Natsu's voice said, making the crew turn around. The Dragon Slayer had managed to drag himself onto the deck along with them, crouching and breathing heavily, glaring at them.**

** "What about Natsu and the other girls?" asked Lucy as she Happy got further away from the ship to safety.**

** "We gotta a problem, Lucy!" Happy informed her.**

** "What do you mean, what problem?!" Lucy demanded, only for Happy's wings to disappear with a poof.**

** "My transformations up," Happy explained blandly, and the two of them cried out as they dropped into the ocean. "STUPID CAT!" Lucy screamed on the way down.**

"You don't need to be so mean, Lucy!" Happy said, pouting up at her sadly.

Lucy smiled, lifting a hand and patting his head. "Sorry Happy, I didn't know you very well and I was frustrated."

**They both splashed into the ocean, Lucy diving deeper and swimming around, searching for her key ring, ignoring Happy, who hit a rock with a mewl of pain. Catching sight of a sparkle, Lucy swam over to them, inwardly exclaiming, '**_**My Gate Keys!**_**'**

** Back on the ship, a weak and unable to move Natsu was being beaten up by several of the pirates in a rather comical fashion. "Forget about them," the Captain said, looking out toward where Lucy and Happy had disappeared, "Let's continue on toward Bosco."**

** Natsu finally managed to catch a guy's kick on his arm, forcing his leg back as he got up a little. "The Fairy Tail Guild," he started, sounding both exhausted and immensely unhappy. The Captain turned to look at him surprise. Natsu glared at him. "You're a member?!" he asked disbelievingly.**

** Back out in the water, Lucy resurfaced with a gasp, Happy right behind her, looking worse for wear. The blonde smirked triumphantly. "Here we go!"**

** She took Aquarius' key off the ring, spinning it in midair and catching it once more, calling loudly, "Open, Gate of the Water Bearer!" Placing the key in the salt-water, she twisted it as light and a magic circle shot out, the sound of bells chiming signifying the Gate had opened as she'd asked, "Aquarius!"**

** In a swirl of water, Aquarius appeared, eye closed and holding her water urn, crouching in a specific pose as her Zodiac sign appeared behind in a dramatic fashion.**

"Well that was….. something," said Levy, making Lucy giggle and Aquarius huff.

**Happy appeared, drooling excitedly. "A FISH!" he exclaimed, his stomach growling, but Lucy batted him aside, snapping, "Not for you!"**

Carla snorted at the juvenile behavior. Lector and Frosch both giggled, both too small to understand that Aquarius was not, in fact, a fish.

Aquarius sent Happy a cold look, sneering at him. "Huh! How dare you, cat?! I am nothing like a fish! If you want to see a fish, then I would suggest Pisces, not me!" she snapped.

Happy shrank away, hiding behind Natsu for protection. "My mistake!" he squeaked.

"Hey, Lucy, tell your Spirit not to pick on Happy!" Natsu complained, glaring right back at the Water Bearer.

Lucy sweat-dropped. "Uh, I really have no control over what they do when I don't Summon them. Sorry," she said, shrugging.

**"That was awesome!" Happy observes as he and Lucy both floated next to the beautiful Spirit.**

** "That's the power of a Celestial Wizard!" Lucy boasted, holding Aquarius' key to the side proudly with a smile. "Whenever I have my Gate Keys, I can Summon Spirits from other worlds to help me!"**

** Spinning around in the water, she pointed toward the ship of the pirates. "Listen up Aquarius, I want you to use your power to push that ship back into port!"**

** Aquarius turned toward her, making a "**_**tch!**_**" sound, unimpressed by her Summoner's attitude.**

** Lucy, tick marks floating around her, snapped, "You're supposed to come from the Spirit World to give me help, not to give me attitude!"**

** Happy, shrinking away from both females, said warningly, "I wouldn't make her any angrier, Lucy!"**

** "Let's get something straight," Aquarius started, waves starting to kick up around her, "The next time you so much as **_**think **_**about dropping my Key…" she turned to glare at the Celestial Wizard here, "You're dead!"**

"Yep, that's Aquarius alright," sighed Loke, completely unsurprised at his fellow Spirit's attitude.

"Anyone would be pissed if their Key was dropped! Don't pretend you wouldn't be too!" Aquarius shot back, crossing her arms across her chest with a huff.

"Maybe, but I wouldn't threaten Lucy for it, especially when it wasn't her fault!" Loke snapped.

** Lucy and Happy both squeaked in terror. "It won't happen again!"**

** Several streams of water all collected into Aquarius' urn, her eyes narrowing as she sighted her target. With a great cry, she threw the urn around, unleashing the torrents of water in a spinning cyclone, causing a massive explosion in the water and throwing the ship toward the port.**

** "Why is the sea so angry?!" Captain Poser cried, startled, as he and his crew and Natsu were all tossed about by the force of the wave.**

** "HEY! I didn't say wash me away with it!" Lucy called in distress as she and Happy were sent spiraling away as well.**

** The wave slammed into the lower part of Hargeon, flooding the streets and crashing the ship into a thankfully empty area. The water continued to fall like rain as the dust cleared to reveal the destruction.**

"Yeah, and you say _we_ go overboard," said Gray, honestly a little impressed with the amount of damage Lucy had inadvertently inflicted by Summoning Aquarius.

"It's not my fault!" Lucy snapped.

**"What's the big deal?! You think you could've tried not to sweep me up with the ship?!" Lucy demanded, soaking wet, sitting on the beach and glaring at her Summon with a water-logged Happy beside her, his head stuck in the sand and tail waving pitifully.**

** "Oh, that was an accident, I didn't mean to get the **_**ship,**_**" Aquarius scoffed, smirking at Lucy's shocked look.**

** "Wait! That means you were aiming for **_**me?!**_**" the blonde demanded.**

** Turning away from the irate girl, Aquarius smiled. "Don't call me for a while. I'm going on a weeklong vacation with my boyfriend. And he's hot," she added smugly just before she disappeared back to the Spirit World.**

** "You don't have to rub it in!" Lucy hissed angrily.**

** Happy, managing to get his head unstuck, said, "I've got an idea! If the Fish Lady gives you anymore trouble, you could call me to take care of her!"**

** Lucy face-palmed. "I don't think I can handle much more of this stupid cat!" she sighed in exasperation.**

** Back at the ship, a crowd of worried onlookers had begun to gather, murmuring quietly.**

** On the sideways tilted deck, the Captain was holding his head in pain while his crew dug themselves out of the wreckage. "That hurt," he groaned, "What in the-"**

** He cut off as the angle panned up to show the side of the ship, sticking in the air, where smoke and dust were still obscuring the line of sight.**

"And now comes the beat down!" said Gray, grinning in anticipation. He may not like Natsu, but it was always a fun time to watch someone beat the crap out of some asshole who thought they could trash talk Fairy Tail like this loser.

Erza smirked as well. All around the room, the Fairy Tail Guild members leaned forward in anticipation of how this was going to go down. Gildarts was especially looking forward to it, wanting to see how far the crazed kid who was determined to beat him had gotten.

Juvia simply smirked, knowing full well her ex-boyfriend would never be able to handle Natsu. He may not be at Gray's level of perfection, but he was still pretty high up on the power scale to be on the same team as the Ice Mage she loved.

**Natsu got to his feet, his eyes shadowed. Below him, on the ground, Lucy ran toward the ship, carrying Happy on her shoulders.**

** "Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed, glad he was alright in the aftermath of Aquarius' attack. She gasped as she noticed the dark look on his face as he glared down at the Poser-Wannabe and his men.**

** "So you claim to be a member of the Fairy Tail Guild," he said flatly.**

** The Captain shifted from among his crew, perplexed. "So what's it to you? Go get him, men!" he ordered.**

** "Sir!" his subordinates cried, getting ready for another easy beat-down like when the ship was at sea.**

"Sucks to be you. Natsu's only useless on moving vehicles, not steady ground!" said Lucy, grinning sadistically, making Natsu, Happy, Ryos, Wendy, and Sting all lean away from her warily.

"You don't need to make it sound like I'm completely useless! I saved your butt, don't forget!" Natsu threw in, just to protect his male pride. At least a little.

"That was Happy, if you recall. You just fell over and laid there like a slug," Lucy retorted, leaving Natsu to wallow in depression. '_Cooooold,_' Happy, Sting, Ryos and Wendy all thought in unison, sweat-dropping.

'_About time it got to the action,_' thought Gajeel with a wide yawn. He'd been on the edge of falling asleep with all this useless crap that had been happening.

**"Let me get a closer look at your face," Natsu growled, lifting one hand to his shoulder to draw the red coat he had been wearing off.**

** A rather unflattering shot of the poser's face was shown up-close as he stared at the Dragon Slayer, clearly unaware of the total smack-down that was about to begin. He grinned confidently, thinking he had the upper hand in this situation, with both his crew and his magic to back him up.**

** Natsu, dropping his coat and his pack to the ground, simply watched as a couple pirates came closer. "Watch out!" Lucy cried in warning.**

"Really, with the way he's acting, you should've been able to guess what was going to happen, Lucy," Levy said, "It's kind of obvious he's going to attack them, with or without magic."

"I didn't know he had magic," said Lucy with a shrug, "I thought he was going to get himself killed."

**Lucy watched worriedly, but Happy lounged on her shoulder, munching on a fish, unconcerned. "Don't worry about him," he reassured Lucy, "I probably should have told you this earlier, but he's a Wizard too."**

** "HUH?!" Lucy gasped, completely flabbergasted.**

** The two pirates lunged at the smaller, seemingly weaker prey, only to be bitch-slapped aside with one hand, Natsu not even batting an eyelash, still glaring at the poser claiming to be from his Guild.**

"Awesome!" exclaimed Ryos, Sting breaking into laughter at the action. Wendy smiled a bit, though Carla sent her a disapproving look and she stopped quickly.

Quiet whoops came from several of the men (and a few of the women) in the room, though they remained mostly quiet, anticipating this battle more than they had before.

** Lifting his right arm to proudly display the Fairy Tail tattoo on his shoulder, Natsu snarled, "My name is Natsu, I'm a Fairy Tail Wizard; and I've never seen you before!"**

** The shot split in two once again, showing a startled Captain Poser and a shocked Lucy. "You've gotta be kidding me!"**

** The screen panned upward to show Natsu, standing in a rather impressive pose, glaring at the man, with his Guild mark out in the open for all the world to see.**

** "So Natsu is a Fairy Tail Wizard?!" Lucy gasped, out of sight for the moment.**

"I believe he just said that, dear," Mirajane said, making Lucy groan in exasperation.

**An extreme close-up of Natsu's Guild Mark appeared.**

** "That mark on his arm!" gasped a crewman, pointing a trembling hand at the enraged fire-breather, "This guy is the real deal, Bora!"**

"Oh, _that's _Bora?" asked Makarov, unimpressed.

"Who is he, Master?" asked Mirajane, raising an eyebrow.

Makarov sighed, rolling his eyes a little. "Just some two-bit amateur Fire Wizard from the Titan Nose Guild. He was excommunicated a few years ago for helping some thieves pull off a heist with his magic. Hasn't got a lick of natural talent; mostly bark, no bite. This should be a short fight."

"You're not wrong," sighed Lucy, smiling.

Juvia couldn't help a devious smirk crossing her face, leaning forward in her seat a bit. She didn't want to miss a moment of this.

**"Don't call me that you fool!" the newly dubbed Bora snapped, horrified that his identity was now out in the open.**

** Lucy stood to the side with Happy next to her, still processing all of the information she'd been shoveled. Happy had crossed his arms, an oddly serious look on his face. "I know him. That's Bora the Prominence. Rumor has it he was kicked out of the Titan Nose Wizard Guild a couple of years ago because of bad behavior," the cat explained.**

** Natsu walked forward a few steps. "I have no idea what you're trying to do here, buddy, and I don't care if you're a good guy, bad guy, or what!" There was a close-up once again on Natsu's pissed off face. "I'm not gonna let you dirty the Fairy Tail Guild's name!"**

** Bora grit his teeth, a hesitant smirk playing across his lips. "And what are **_**you **_**gonna do about it, stop me?!" he said, utterly doubtful.**

"Yes," Erza deadpanned.

**Bora spread his arms, a magic circle snapping into existence in front of him. "**_**Prominence Typhoon!**_**" he yelled, and a wave of purple flames shot forward and engulfed Natsu, who simply watched, dumbstruck.**

"I couldn't believe anyone who had heard of me before thought they could hurt me with a fire attack," the current Natsu explained with a shrug. "I guess he'd heard about Salamander being a Fire Wizard, not the part about being a Dragon Slayer."

Sting pursed his lips, just barely resisting the urge to jump up and tell this guy off. He was _not _a Dragon Slayer. Perhaps he knew the magic, but he certainly never finished the deal and killed this Igneel guy. Ryos watched him from the side, uneasy. He would have to tackle him down if he did anything rash; whether or not these adults had their magic, they were surrounded by Natsu's friends and allies. Causing an altercation here would only lead to disaster, especially if the red-haired woman got involved.

**"Natsu!" Lucy screamed, horrified, taking a step forward, only to be cut off as Happy floated in front of her, holding her back with one paw, the serious expression still on his face. Lucy looked back to where the salmon-haired mage had apparently been blown to smithereens.**

** As all this was happening, all of the nearly kidnapped girls all fled the scene, all screaming in terror of the fire and explosions.**

"Well at least those girls are alright," said Mirajane in relief.

** Bora stood in front of the smoldering remains of his ship, surrounded by his crew once more. "That's the way it goes, the bigger the talk, the weaker the man."**

"Oh, you mean like you?" snorted Gray, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Come on, Natsu, just kick this guy's ass already!"

Natsu blinked, not expecting to hear that from Gray. Regardless, he grinned cheekily at the Ice Mage. "Don't worry, this is all for dramatic build up. His ass will be kicked, and soon!" he assured.

**Bora turned away with a chuckle, arrogantly thinking he had won.**

** "Ugh, this is so gross!" yelled Natsu's voice, startling Bora into spinning back around.**

** Natsu's silhouette was visible through the orange flames as he used one hand to direct the flames into his mouth. "Are you sure that you're really a Fire Wizard?! Cause these are the nastiest flames I've ever tasted!" he complained, swallowing the fire anyway.**

** Bora and his crew all gasped in shock, horrified, some of them looking ready to cry.**

"Nicely done, Natsu! Put those pansies in their place!" yelled Elfman, pumping a fist into the air.

**Lucy also shrieked a little at the unexpected action.**

Levy and Mirajane both giggled, Erza and Cana smiling a bit. Lucy was one strange girl, that was for sure.

**Natsu pulled four streams of fire into his mouth, placing a hand over his mouth once he was finished and swallowing. He straightened up with a grin. "Thanks for the grub, poser."**

** "What's going on here?! Who **_**is **_**this kid?!" Bora demanded hysterically as Natsu let out a soft burp.**

** Attention went back to Happy with a… strange look on his face as he watched.**

"Uh, Happy, you look a bit possessed right there," said Loke, raising an eyebrow at the screen.

"I do not!" Happy gasped, jumping up. "I just wanted to look serious!"

"Yeah, well, you look seriously possessed right now," Loke said with a shrug.

Happy sighed sadly. "I'll never use that face again," he moaned, crying chibi tears and latching onto Lucy, who patted him awkwardly.

**"Fire magic doesn't work on Natsu," the possessed-looking cat explained.**

** Lucy, at his side, said in shock, "I've never seen anything like that."**

** Natsu took a few steps forward, steam erupting from his feet as his body temperature rose internally. "Now I've got a fire in my belly that's raging in my belly that's raging to get out!" he growled. He slammed his fists together to summon a familiar magic circle with the image of a dragon in the middle, the design bright red in color.**

Wendy, Sting, and Ryos all leant forward in interest, having never seen any other type of Dragon Slayer magic before.

A few Fairy Tail Wizards all smirked at the familiar phrase, having heard Natsu say it one time or another, whether on the battle-field or inside the Guild hall just before he attacked Gray, Loke or Elfman.

**Natsu opened his eyes, the pupil thinning into a slit reminiscent to that of a lizard – or dragon, as the case was. "Here goes," he growled, crouching as fire spiraled around him as he prepared himself.**

** His cheeks puffed out way past normal human limits. "**_**Fire Dragon Roar!**_**" he yelled, his image overtaken by that of Igneel for a moment before let out the fire in a stream, both hands cupped around his mouth to help direct it. The stream shot through the magic circle he'd summoned and became a wave of overwhelming flame as it bathed the area Bora and his crew had been standing in.**

** A large explosion was visible even on the cliffs further away from the town.**

Makarov cast an even darker glare toward Natsu, who shrank away. "Uh, heh, sorry?" he offered weakly.

"You and I are going to have a talk later," the tiny man growled, making Natsu groan.

**Lucy and Happy were battered by the wind and small bits of dirt and smoke that were aftereffects of the explosion, Lucy holding an arm up to guard her face while Happy simply stood, watching calmly.**

** The entire crew of pirates was left sprawled amid the wreckage of the ship, all of them collapsed in awkward positions, but there was no sign of Bora.**

** Turned out he was floating above the carnage, having avoided the attack with a fresh stream of purple flames keeping him aloft, not bothering to try and save any of his men.**

'_No surprise there,_' Juvia thought disdainfully with a sniff. '_Why did I ever go out with such a creep when my beloved Gray was out there, waiting for me?!_'

"**Hey Bora," one of the few men still conscious called, "I swear I've seen this guy before!"**

** They watched as Natsu stood up in the middle of the debris, his body cast in shadow and eyes glowing red.**

"Wow, Natsu, you actually look pretty scary there!" exclaimed Levy, holding a hand in front of her mouth in shock.

"Rather demonic if you ask me," Erza cut in with a nod.

Natsu blinked, assessing his past self critically. "Huh. I do look pretty bad-ass there!" he exclaimed, grinning.

"I don't think that was what they meant…" Lucy muttered, but didn't push it.

**"The pink hair and the scaly-looking scarf," the man continued as Natsu straightened his body out. "There's no doubt about it. He's gotta be the real one!"**

** "Salamander?!" Lucy gasped, mouth hanging open as it usually did when she was surprised.**

"She finally gets it," sighed Levy, resisting the urge to face-palm.

**Fire wrapped around both of Natsu's hands as they clenched into fists. "I hope you guys are paying attention!" he yelled, "This is what a Fairy Tail Wizard can do! Here I come!" Fast-paced, epic music began to play as the fight really started.**

** Charging forward, he aimed straight for Bora, who quickly formed a magic circle in front of him once more.**

"That guys just doesn't seem to understand that fire doesn't affect you," Loke deadpanned.

**"**_**Red Shower!**_**" the very poor excuse of a Fire Wizard cried, shooting multiple balls of purple fire forward, which either didn't hit Natsu or bounced off him harmlessly, the Dragon Slayer completely unaffected by the attack.**

** A magic circle appearing underneath Natsu, and he used the power it gave him to leap into the air farther than any normal human would be able to go, drawing a fist back behind his head as he neared his target and punching the man straight in the face, sending him flying into some buildings.**

** "So he eats fire and then attack with it?" Lucy asked, still surprised but able to think at the very least now. She and Happy were still on the beach, watching the battle unfold. "But how does he do it? Is it some kind of spell?"**

"Duh," muttered Gray, earning him a painful rib jab from Erza. '_Why the hell am I sitting here again?!_' he thought tearfully.

** "He has dragon lungs that allow him to breathe fire," Happy explained proudly, "Dragon scales to help him to dissolve the fire, and dragon claws for attacking with fire."**

** Back in town, Bora stood up from where he was covered in rubble, facing the Fairy Tail Wizard, who had dropped from the air onto the roof of a house, head-on now that he knew what he was up against. "His brand of fire magic allows him to take on all the qualities of a dragon, it's an ancient spell that's rarely used anymore."**

** "Seriously?" Lucy gasped.**

** "This particular magic was originally used to deal with dragons," added Happy.**

** "Whoa," was all Lucy could say as Bora attached once more.**

** "**_**Hell Prominence!**_**" he cried, summoning forth a large amount of energy before releasing it into a long beam of light (like a laser) and shooting it around Hargeon in an attempt to hit Natsu, only to cause a long line of explosions that didn't bother the other mage in the slightest.**

"Oh! He should be a lot more careful! If people are still in town, they could be killed by that!" Mirajane gasped, mortified that someone could do something like that so callously. He may be a slave trader, but _geez,_ at least have _some _human decency!

"Don't worry Mira, after Aquarius' wave the city was evacuated, everyone was fine," Lucy assured her, making the older girl sigh with relief.

**"It's called Dragon Slayer magic," Happy continued, unconcerned by the destruction being wrought.**

** Natsu stood half leaning over, a vicious demonic grin stretching his lips while half his face was shadowed, the left eye glowing red in the dark as his scarf waved in the wind.**

"Geez, he does look like a demon," muttered Jet, making Droy and Levy both nod. Gajeel raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. The moron had certainly looked at least ten times more vicious when fighting him, so he remained unconcerned.

**"Igneel was the one who taught it to him," Happy concluded.**

** Bora desperately formed a huge fire ball and chucked it as hard as he could, but Natsu simply caught it and sucked it into his mouth, happily swallowing it with no hassle. "Now **_**that **_**was a hefty meal!" he admitted, wiping a hand under his chin. "You're not doing too bad, but I'm about to cook you like a smoked fish!"**

Most everyone face-palmed again. "Natsu, you _smoke _a smoked fish, not cook it," Erza explained with a sigh.

Natsu pouted. "I know that!" he muttered.

**Bora screamed rather girlishly. "You're gonna do **_**what **_**to me?!"**

** Natsu slammed his fists together again. "Get ready!" he called in warning, leaping forward with his right fist cocked behind him, surrounded in flames. "**_**Fire Dragon Iron Fist!**_**" he snarled, shooting through a wall of fire Bora has summoned to protect himself and all out slamming his fist into the older man's face, making the screaming caped figure tumble through the air, across half the city, until he reached the town hall and striking the bell at the top with a '**_**gong!**_**'**

A smattering of applause filled the room, which Natsu took with a wide mega-watt grin.

**Happy appeared once more with a sparkle near his head. "Don't be silly, Natsu! Everyone knows you smoke food with **_**smoke,**_** not fire!" he said cheerfully.**

** Lucy gaped for a moment, finally seeming to understand just how powerful the dork she'd met earlier that day really was. "Oh wow, that was amazing!" she gasped.**

** However, she sweat-dropped as she looked at the mass chaos caused to the city's buildings throughout the fight, the majority of it still on fire. "But he overdid it!"**

** "Aye!" affirmed Happy.**

** "Oh shut it, cat!" Lucy snapped.**

** A force of soldiers from the Fiore Military charged onto the scene, carrying their customary spears and shields.**

** "The army?!" Lucy gasped, just about done with this whole day. Suddenly something snagged her wrist and dragged her away, which turned out to be Natsu, completely losing his cool attitude and fleeing the scene with Happy right behind them.**

** "Crap, we gotta get outta here!" he cried, running full speed.**

** "Where the heck are you taking me?!" Lucy shrieked in protest.**

** The damage to the city was shown from the army soldier's point of view, Happy flying over them as Natsu's voice said, "Come on, you said you wanted to join the Fairy Tail Guild, didn't ya?"**

** Lucy stared at him for a moment, startled by the abrupt offer.**

** Natsu grinned at her widely. "So let's go!" he said.**

** Lucy slowly smiled, a light blush on her cheeks as happy music started up in the background. "Alright!" she cried as she, Natsu, and Happy all fled from the army, the picture frozen on their bizarrely joyful expressions despite the fact that they were being chased away from a city on fire.**

"You idiots really managed to waste that place, huh?" observed Gray, raising both eyebrows at the strange image.

"Oh please, I just got everything a little wet. Natsu and that Bora guy were the ones that blew everything up!" Lucy stated defensively.

**"**_**Guu no ne~!**_**"**

"Huh, an ending song too," said Erza, a bit taken aback. Whoever had brought them here had obviously gone through a lot of trouble just to make all of these little details, like the special effects that had nothing to do with magic, the background music, the opening and ending themes. '_Is this all really so important that this Persephone person would put this all together just for us to watch it?_' she thought, placing a finger under her chin contemplatively.

**A strange spinning dial with the images of the sun, moon, stars, and clouds, was placed over an actual clock with Roman numerals instead of normal numbers. A cartoonified-Lucy was just underneath the ensemble, laying on her stomach on a grassy hill and kicking her feet back and forth as she daydreamed riding on the back of a horse with a stereotypical prince charming holding the reins.**

** "**_**Dokoka e tsuretette buriki no umi ni notte futari de**_**"**

Lucy flushed a dark red as giggling surrounded her. "Shut up! I don't do this!" she snapped, only going redder when she inwardly acknowledged that she _did _do this on occasion.

"Whatever you say, Lu!" Levy gasped, wiping a tear of mirth from her eye.

"I could be your prince charming if you like, princess!" said Loke, grinning at her charmingly.

"Or perhaps _we_ could satisfy your need for royalty?" asked Eve, Ren and Hibik both taking up poses beside him.

Lucy sweat-dropped, leaning away from them. "Uh, thanks, I'll keep that in mind," she muttered.

**As the horse passed out of sight, chibi-Lucy opened her eyes as her chibified most prominent Spirits appeared before them. Chibi-Lucy then appeared munching on some meat.**

** "**_**(GO!GO! Let's go! Romansu!)**_**"**

"This is definitely weirder than the opening," Lucy said awkwardly, not particularly pleased that she was being displayed in such an odd fashion.

"Aw, what are you talking about, I think it's cute! You're all small and puffy! Like a baby!" Natsu exclaimed, slinging an arm around the blonde's shoulders happily.

"Thanks," Lucy muttered, a tick mark appearing on her head.

**A chibi-sun with a face on it appeared next, the shot panning out to reveal the normal Lucy sitting on some rocks watching it set across the ocean. Another chibi-her flashed across the screen before her chibified-Spirits all appeared again, doing the same little chant thing.**

** "**_**Kataomoi no dooru wa kotoba ni dekinai kara setsunai (GO!GO! Let's go! Romansu!)**_**"**

** A sparkle appeared before Happy faded onto the screen, sitting on a rock in the middle of water, sadly munching on a lone fish, practically crying as he thought about another fish or perhaps an octopus to eat. A shooting star with a rainbow trail following flew overhead, but the blue cat paid it no attention. Plue joyfully jumped on screen, startling Happy, before a chibi-Aquarius appeared as well, giving a thumbs up with a devious expression, obviously having driven all of the fish in the area away. Chibi Horologium, Taurus, Cancer, and Virgo all popped up as well.**

** "**_**Namida ga dechau yowamushi da ne anata no koto omou tabini Tsuki no (tsuki no) yoru wa (yoru wa) itsumo (itsumo)**_**"**

** Then, before a moon and stars background, a cancan dancing chibi-Lucy appeared, dressed in a sexy bunny outfit with Happy and Plue on either side, wearing bunny ears and kicking their legs along with her.**

** "**_**usagi wo sagashiteru**_**"**

"Uuuuuuuugh!" Lucy groaned into a pillow as several people giggled.

**A star whipped past the screen, changing the image to a beach, which normal Lucy ran along toward the screen with her chibi-Spirits still appearing at certain lines.**

** "**_**Gu~ no ne denai kurai ni (Hey! Hey! Hey!) mahou kakerareta mitai**_**"**

** It then showed the river and bridge right outside Lucy's apartment. She was sitting on the edge of the street, (her chibi-Spirits appeared again) then faded away and instead stood on the path next to the water, before the shot panned to her apartment window and showed her looking out at the street with a sad expression on her face, chin in her hand as she looked out before turning toward the screen.**

** "**_**Gu~ no ne denai kurai ni (Hey! Hey! Hey!) kotenpan ni suki nandesu donna jumon wo tonaetara tsutawaru no deshou?**_**"**

** It then showed Lucy inside her apartment wearing only a towel**

"AGH! LOOK AWAY!" Lucy shrieked, sucker-punching Natsu and Loke even as the rest of the male population went "oooooooh!" and were therefore beaten the crap out of by the female population.

Aquarius literally sent Taurus over the back of the couch and glared at Cancer, who was already looking away. Lyra shielded Horlogium and Crux's eyes, though Crux was half-unconscious anyway.

Erza slapped a hand over Gray's eyes, though the action ended up sending him crashing into the back of the couch with a dull thud, his head throbbing. '_That's it,_' he moaned internally, '_First chance I get I'm switching seats._'

Cana punched Gildarts in the jaw herself, scowling.

**facing a mirror and brushing her teeth, her hair wrapped in a towel as well. Plue sat nearby, his head oddly flatter than normal.**

** Chibified versions of Gray, Natsu, and Erza slid into the screen, making Lucy turn around in shock.**

** "**_**Kanpeki gu~ no ne (Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!)**_**"**

** It changed once again to the wilderness, Lucy running around once more, this time facing away from the camera as she went. She stopped and stood with the wind flowing through her hair as she held her hands to her chest, before opening her eyes and smiling at the screen, eventually allowing it to evolve into a grin and giving a thumbs up.**

** "**_**Gu~ no ne are ya kore ya de (Hey! Hey! Hey!) mechakucha ni suki nandesu itsuka anata ni iwasetai "mairimashita" nante Okaeshi gu~ no ne**_**"**

** The image returned to the strange dial-clock thing from the beginning, Lucy once again on the grassy hill kicking her legs. However, this time her eyes snapped open and she got up in surprise, only to find she was in her apartment and Natsu, Happy, Gray and Erza had happily invaded her personal room once more, eating her food at her table without permission. Furiously, the words for "**_**This is my room!**_**" appeared above her as she seemingly screamed at them.**

** "**_**Gu~ no ne mo denee ze!**_**"**

"AGH! Is there no way to keep it from showing me naked?!" Lucy snarled, fuming. Natsu and Loke were both slumped to one side, holding their stomachs and moaning in unison. Taurus mooed in pain from behind the couch. Gray groaned as he sat up, holding his aching head. The other men in the room were all rubbing their heads and faces where the ladies had obligingly punched them for staring like pervs.

The only boys not currently groaning in agony were Sting and Ryos, who had quickly covered their own eyes in embarrassment, and Romeo, who had his eyes covered by his father.

"At least you had a towel on," offered Cana with a shrug.

Lucy sighed miserably. "Let's just get this over with and continue already," she muttered.

* * *

** A/N: And that's the end of episode 1! FINALLY! This took me four days to write out completely! FOUR! You have no idea how much willpower it takes an ADHD high school senior to write something for four days straight! GAH!**

** Well, I hope you enjoyed! Drop a review and maybe even a favorite or a follow if you did, and I'll see you all next time! (I'll try to have chapter 2 done by next Saturday!) Bye!**

** ~Persephone**


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